A Change of Habit

“It seems ridiculously simple, but once you’re aware of how your habit works, once you recognize the cues and rewards, you’re halfway to changing it,”  Nathan Azrin (a habit researcher)

The last few weeks I have been talking about Charles Duhigg's book, The Power of Habit. http://charlesduhigg.com/

I challenged you to come up with a goal and use the loop model he writes about to create a new habit.  How did you do?  What part was the hardest for you?  Did you find it difficult to take a large goal and turn it into a smaller one, or was it more difficult trying to figure out how to incorporate the loop concept into it?  Did you remember the formula: the cue, the routine and then the reward?

Or perhaps you are still on the sidelines sitting in your rut waiting for a better, brighter more magical day to come, when the fairy godmother will appear and sprinkle desire dust over you and then you’ll be motivated to take action? Well, I say…. if not now, then when?

For well over a year, I have focused on the idea of making small changes in my life. When writing out my small steps, I was careful not to go for perfection... For example; one of my beginning small steps was to start taking a multiple vitamin pill a minimum of 4 times a week. I have been successful with that goal, at least the four times a week part.  I have no problem remembering to take my pills at work on Monday – Thursday, but I have struggled to do it on the weekends (Friday-Sunday). For some reason, I usually forget to take the vitamins when I’m at home.  And if taking a vitamin four times a week is good for me, then why not seven times a week? As I thought more about this, I realized this small goal might be a great place to try out the loop theory.

My first step was to think about the habit I had developed at work and why it was easy for me to remember to take my vitamin pill there.  I realized that I have a built in cue at work, because my vitamin pills are in the same drawer that I put my crackers, my nuts, my fruit and my mints.  It’s easy to see them…so that’s my cue. And just swallowing them down is a reward enough.  But, I don’t have that same cue at my home, so that gives ‘resistance’ a chance to move in and do his diabolical work.

Since the best time for me to take my vitamins is after lunch, I decided to think about what I usually do after I eat ….I treat myself to a York mint…Yummy!  So I decided that when I am at home, I would put my mints next to my vitamins and once I start to grab my mint, I see my vitamin (cue), and then once I swallow it, (the routine)  I get to eat my mint...(the reward)!  It does seem ridiculously simple doesn’t it?  And, It's already working amazingly well.
 

I’m not sure I’m ready to write my findings up in a scientific journal, but I am ready to attempt another small step, using my new found loop theory.  So how about you, are you ready to give it another try? If need be, kick yourself in the butt, take action, and make a few more changes in your life.  Start small and start today.

Post your comments on the blog, or email me, Karen, at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com