The Power of Habit

Do you know what percentage of daily behaviors for most people are decided by habits? 45%! It's a surprising figure. So in certain degree we are all slaves of our habits. Good habits can help us to achieve one success based on another success. But bad habits could be harmful to our body or mind. So, the question is how habit is formed and operated. Let me share my story.

I have a habit of going to office by walking every morning. On the road, I like to think about the topics I learn recently. Sometimes I review the knowledge and try to connect to my own experiences. Sometimes I just think about what questions I can ask myself on this topic. This is the practice of so-called fruitful meditation.

Let's come back to the question. How habit is formed and operated? The book The Power of Habit gives us the answer. 

Every habit includes three parts - cue, routine and reward. The cue is something that can trigger routine. The routine means repeated behaviors. The reward is the consequence of the routine behavior and it satisfies your brain. When the loop is established and becomes more and more automated, the habit is finally formed.

The cue could be a time point, a place, an emotion, a feeling, a sound, or preceding behavior. The secret of a habit loop is the cue and reward. When the cue occurs, the routine behavior will start automatically because the brain knows deeply what the reward will be.Reward is different for different person. It is something that could satisfy you, e.g., comfort, safety, relax, sense of accomplishment.

Take my habit as an example. When I go outside every morning, the time is the cue which reminds me to go to office by walking. When I walk, I feel healthy and that is the reward. At same time, the behavior of walking triggers my next behavior, fruitful meditation. I get reward again. I feel a sense of achievement because I learn new things by utilizing the time mostly.

Now you should have known how habit is formed and operated. You may also want to know how to build a habit. The steps are pretty simple.

First, you need to setup a cue which can occur or happen very easily. For example, you can combine a fixed time and fixed place. When it occurs, you start the expected behavior.

Second, repeat the routine behavior and the loop. At the same time, strengthen the reward and the feeling of aspiration.

Last but not the least, try to get energy to stick to the habit. You can get energy from your belief. You can also get energy from a group of a people who can support and encourage each other.

Some people may ask what habit to build? The recommendation is to start from small challenge and focus on critical habits. For example, reading, getting up earlier, physical excise and meditation are good examples of critical habits. They can generate a series of changes to your mind, your behaviors. Even they can generate new habits.

As you know, habits play important role in our daily life. It does not make sense to ignore the power of habits. So why not start from changing bad habits and building good habits, in order to have a better life?