One of the most fruitful areas of the human brain is the habit formation ability. The idea of doing something without actually thinking about it is astonishing. Your mind can be tired. But your body is so used to a certain behavior that it seemingly automatically executes. Despite these upsides, we still steer towards bad habits. Why?
Our brains are programmed to chase that dopamine high. When we are introduced to behavior that results in a reward. Internal links are formed in the brain that are triggered when there is a cue reminding of the end prize.
The simplest example is eating.
You probably just ate. But if suddenly a decent-looking dessert enters the living room, your immediate reaction will be to have some.
Of course, this process can – and should – be used to embed useful habits into your life. But the reason we find it so hard to keep a list of good habits around is the amount of energy we have to expend in order to perform even a single good behavior.
- It’s easy to scroll on your phone while eating popcorn – a lazy habit.
- It’s hard to get up, get dressed, go to the nearest gym, and train – a diligent habit.
The same reason our ability to form habits is good is also the same reason it’s bad.
The setup that can make a difference in your life is embracing the idea of micro habits.
A good habit that is so tiny, that advertises itself as surprisingly simple to do.
This post is for people who constantly put aside behaviors that have the potential to lead to positive results because they require a lot of effort.
So, if every time you hear the word gym, your body collapses. The concept of micro habits can be the thing you were looking for to steer yourself towards a brighter future where you wear smaller size jeans.
What Are Micro Habits?
Micro habits are tiny routines that don’t take long to execute and have the potential to lead to big results. Since they are relatively easy to start and perform. Your brain doesn’t paralyze when you think about them. It perceives them as something doable.
Usually, when we want to change something in our lives. We typically try to push ourselves toward committing to behavior that is foreign to us.
For instance, a person who never set foot in a fitness center. Can establish a new year resolution to visit the gym daily. However, the magnitude of change in the current lifestyle of the person is huge in this example.
You are basically dooming yourself right from the start if you want to move from “never exercising before” to “exercising daily”.
Your current way of living was not designed for such a sudden tectonic shift.
A much better alternative is the micro habits way.
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- Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., & Rozental, A. (2020). A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PLOS ONE. On the web: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234097
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