Our habits can become so ingrained in our daily routines that they define us. However, while some might seem impossible to break, research shows that behavioural changes are possible. We can make constructive changes through focused effort and building new neural pathways in our brains.
In this post, we’ll briefly discuss habits and how they work. We’ll also share some tips on how to build better ones, inspired by two popular books: Atomic Habits and The Power of Habit. We’ll look at some of SACAP Global’s short courses that you can take to help you create more beneficial and mindful routines, especially at the start of a new year.
What are habits?
Habits are behaviours we’ve developed over time, including simple tasks such as brushing our teeth before bed or exercising. Many of these help us feel good. However, bad habits also develop through constant repetition. Repeated behaviours create neural pathways in our brains that reinforce the same behaviour, even if it isn’t good for us.
However, if we understand human behaviour, we can deconstruct our routines. We can learn how habits are a pattern of responding to cues with certain behaviours, which aren’t always conscious.
If you always feel like smoking a cigarette when stressed, it’s because you have trained your brain to associate smoking with stress relief. However, if you can train yourself to take the time to do something else instead, it could be just as effective. Rewiring our brains to desire a different outcome isn’t easy; it requires commitment!
Why build better habits?
Our habits are responses to stimuli that help us cope. They reward us, so why would we want to change them? The reality is that no matter how good they might feel at the time, they aren’t always beneficial for our physical or mental health in the long term.
When it comes to addiction, we need profound and supportive interventions. However, breaking certain day-to-day routines and building better ones through consistent effort and understanding human behaviour is possible.
Tips on how to build better habits
To share some tips on building better habits, we’ll discuss two popular books: Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. By summarising each, we’ll share some ideas on how to build more constructive habits.
Atomic Habits
In a TED Collective podcast interview, Clear shares how the word atomic has several meanings in this context. It can refer to atoms, the smallest building blocks of matter, which can accumulate and form molecules and compounds. The word atomic also relates to a source of energy or power.
The core theme of Atomic Habits is that minor incremental changes have a more significant impact over time. We can see how tiny habits compound into life-changing behaviours by starting small. Therefore, incremental changes can be powerful and help us create better systems for managing our lives.
Habits are challenging to break because they can form part of our identity. Therefore, we must also change our self-perception when breaking habits. On the flip side, building identity-based behaviours allows us to recreate or shift our sense of identity for the better. By understanding the four laws of behaviour change, we learn how the cue, craving, response and reward cycle works and why we have developed certain routines.
Other important considerations include whether or not you are genuinely interested in developing a new habit and what you are optimising for. It’s easy to think you must build certain habits because other people are. However, Clear’s approach focuses more on developing consistency than achieving results. Ultimately, it’s more about focusing on what person you want to become and then building habits that reinforce your desired identity.
The Power of Habit
The Power of Habit covers themes similar to Atomic Habits but explains why habits exist, how they work, and how to change them. In this book, Duhigg analysed how habits have shaped the lives of famous people and how noticing simple patterns in our daily lives can lead to powerful transformation.
In a Feel Better, Live More podcast interview with Dr Chatterjee, Duhigg discusses breaking down what drives a habit. According to Duhigg, all habits have three elements: the cue or stimulus, the behaviour itself, and the reward. Cues include a particular time of day, place, emotion, or ritual behaviour. The behaviour is the response to the cue, and the reward is the outcome of doing said behaviour. By understanding how they interlink, we can experiment with replacing unhealthy behaviours with healthier ones.
Duhigg doesn’t believe that it’s possible to eliminate a specific behaviour. However, if we understand the cue and reward, we can experiment with ways to change the behaviour. For example, in the interview, Dr Chatterjee shares how the reward of a delicious cup of coffee drives his morning routine. However, if he wanted to eliminate caffeine, he could experiment with replacing it with another hot drink.
To share another example from the book, Duhigg used to get up from his desk at the same time every day and go and buy a cookie. However, after analysing why he was doing it, he realised that what he was craving during his mid-afternoon slump wasn’t a cookie. It was socialising. Therefore, Duhigg could shift his behaviour by recognising that he was looking for social interaction instead of sugar.
This book teaches us that we can develop more constructive alternatives by addressing the root causes of behaviour. Ultimately, replacing an unhealthy behaviour with a healthy one is easier than trying to stop the unhealthy behaviour.
Learn more about human behaviour with SACAP Global
It’s easy to see how this process could be valuable in our personal lives. But, if we consider how this could impact our lives on a larger scale, for example, in an organisational context, even more impactful change is possible!
Understanding human behaviour is critical to building better routines and relationships. It also helps us become more impactful leaders and improve our thinking and behaviour.
At SACAP Global, we offer short online courses in Applied Psychology. Our approach is to use theories, research, and practical applications to drive greater effectiveness in our personal and professional lives, including building more constructive habits.
Some of our most popular courses include:
- Intro to Human Behaviour: Learn more about what drives human behaviour, which can provide deeper insights into your routines.
- Factors Influencing Human Behaviour: Understanding what affects our behaviour can help us better understand how we think and behave.
- Social Influences on Human Behaviour: It’s essential to put human behaviour into a greater social context, as society dramatically influences our behaviour.
- Social Psychology: How Social Influences Shape Identity: Habits contribute to our identity, so understanding how society affects our perception can help us build better routines.
- Motivation Mastery: Unlock Potential and Achieve Goals: Changing our habits might be the goal, but we must learn to motivate ourselves to make real change.
- Intro to Consumer Behaviour & Psychology: Understanding consumer behaviour and psychology can provide a fascinating insight into habits in a commercial context.
For more information, browse our list of available short courses. These courses cover trauma, counselling, mental health, and industry-related short courses that focus on building interpersonal, leadership, and management skills.