How to form a Habit:
Okay, this is one topic which can be very helpful for every folk.
Habits are so integral part of our daily lives. We have certain good and bad habits which shapes our personality, but this is also true that when it comes down to making a healthy habit part of our life, we struggle…
So, today in this article we will talk about
“How to form a Habit”,
“What are necessary steps one must take to form a habit”,
“How to retain your habits” etc.…
So, let’s get started.
First, let us understand
- What is Habit?
A habit is considered a repeated pattern of behavior observed based on previous mental experiences. Habits are considered to be an action of your subconscious mind.
What do you do daily?, Is a part of your habits?,
What makes you feel happy or sad? Is it a consequence of your habits?,
And how you excel in a particular task, is a reward of your habits.
So, what is the basic science behind forming a habit?
There are 4 factors that decide the formation of habit according to science;
- Cue: The cue is considered as that trigger which pushes you to initiate a behavior/habit in a certain way.
- Cravings: Craving is a process that gives you the motivation to perform that particular habit.
- Response: Response is the actual action that is performed to execute the habit.
- Rewards: Reward is the final end goal which you achieve, after making a habit the part of your routine.
To understand these 4 factors clearly, we will see an example of a habit:
For example, you want to make a habit of “Practicing yoga every morning for staying healthy”, how that can be divided into 4 factors is presented:
| Cue | Cravings | Response | Rewards |
| You wake up every morning. (Push) | You want to stay fit and healthy. (Motivation) | You perform Yoga for 15 minutes
(Action) |
Performing yoga is associated with staying healthy
(End goal) |
Every habit is considered to be a loop of all these 4 factors performed repeatedly.
Once you understand, what is science behind Habit formation, now let us see
- How long does it take to Form a Habit?
You might have surely heard of this “It takes 21 days to form a new habit”
But before you believe this, let us understand what is the origin of this belief.
In 1960, an American surgeon named as Dr Maxwell Maltz observed a pattern in him and his patient that it would take them 21 days to adjust to any changes in their body parts.
Maltz wrote down all his experience in a book named as “Psycho-cybernetics” (an audiobook), which went on to become a best seller with 30 million copies.
From then, this belief was accepted widely of “21 days”
But actually, it differs from individual to individual. There is no fixed time that is allotted but, on average, it is considered to be “66 days” to form a new habit which can vary from 18-254 days.
And always remember, it is on the will of the person, how and why and what will he get out of the habit, that triggers push you to form a habit and there is no fixed time limit. One has to start from Day 1 to work towards forming a habit and most importantly “Be consistent about it”.
- Steps to form new habits:
- Associate your Habit:
This is an important point to notice. Our brains are wired to work on basis of past experiences. So if you want to form a new habit, try associating it with an existing habit of yours.
For example; if you want to build a habit of having ginger water in the morning for good metabolism, try making this as a practice that you add ginger to your lukewarm water glass which you already have every morning. This is an easy approach to start something new.
- Take Baby Steps:
Any new thing takes time to adapt and settle down, same is with habit formation. Try taking each step at a single time and start somewhere without thinking much about the results, because sometimes the most thought step is to “START” the process. Therefore, take baby steps toward forming any new habit slowly and gradually you will learn.
- Consistency:
This is very important. Anything you start, you need to follow it up and be determined about completing it or either develop the habit of constantly doing it till the time you get used to it.
You have to be consistent in whatever changes you want to incorporate into your routine, practice it daily without any gap or cheat days to get better results. In the end, always remember “Consistency is the key to Success”.
- Make it Fun:
Any task you perform, for it to be perfect you need to love the process, have fun enjoy the activity you do and then see the results would always turn out to be the best. Loving what you do is very important to complete the task effortlessly. Therefore, when you decide to form any habit, make it fun and enjoyable.
- Rewards:
Lastly, any habit you form you are most interested in end goals you are going to get out of it. So rewards are always fascinating and satisfying. So always cherish and enjoy the reward which you achieved after a lot of hard work. Remember to credit yourself for your hard work. Rewards obtained would further motivate you to retain your good habits.
The bottom line is “Start, get up take efforts and do what is best for you”, form good habits and retain them for your good. This would make you feel happy and have a better personality.
Once you form good habits in life, where you can actually motivate your own self and try making progress in terms of your personal growth which will satisfy you in your life personally.
I hope, this article was helpful and informative about “How to form a Habit”.
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