Habits and the Challenges They Represent for Behavior Change

Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs one step at a time.

Mark Twain

 

My hunch is that everyone reading this post lives a life dominated by habits. Many of these are beneficial and referred to as “routines” that we follow countless times throughout the day. Such routines allow us to negotiate the many and varied steps, that if requiring constant and vigilant attention would reduce our productivity to only those decisions needed to simply maintain our existence.

 

“Morning routines” like showering or oral hygiene, dressing, breakfasting, getting the kids off to school, commuting to work, or caring for the dog. Routines associated with meal preparation or household chores, driving a car, operating power equipment, or…the list is endless. The fact is these routines are essential habits, but ones we view as “good” or beneficial in nature. They are “shortcuts” we create that free our brains to engage in attending to other issues needing attention. They enable us, as the current cliché goes, to “multitask” and do 2 or more things at the same time. For example, try to imagine all the decisions that you would need to make to back your car out of the garage and headed to your destination if it were not for the car-driving habit you developed! Open the door, key in the ignition, adjust the mirrors, put the car in gear, easy on the gas, check the mirror, avoid the mailbox, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

 

Often, it is until when one of our routines results in a negative consequence, that we tend to label it a “bad habit.” And although there are good habits, we most often associate habits with undesirable behaviors, things like smoking, overeating, problem drinking, or maintaining a sedentary lifestyle, etc. So, let’s consider changing a bad habit by first looking at the anatomy of a habit: what it is and where they come from.

 

As suggested above, a habit is essentially a routine, a mental shortcut if you will, a pattern of behavior that through repetition becomes automatic. Such automatic behavior enables us to engage our internal “autopilot” to address repetitious behavior, thus freeing up the brain to consider other issues. When

encountering a cue that signals the start of a routine—an alarm clock sounding for example—and following through with a routine that results in a reward—getting up, showered, ready to fix breakfast and get the kids off to school or get dressed and off to work on time…or perhaps both—and repeating this multiple times, this routine becomes automatic, a shortcut…you do not even have to think about what to do or when to do it and in what order; like Nike suggests, you just do it.  Referred to as a “habit loop,” this pattern of a cue that initiates a routine resulting in a reward…cue, routine, reward; cue, routine, reward…and so on…becomes a habit.

 

The same process is involved when “habits go bad”; cue (stress), routine (smoking/drinking/eating), reward (escape/relief). Repeated often enough—and this can require very few repetitions—and the result is a habit, albeit a bad habit. And as anyone having experienced a less than successful New Year’s Resolution can attest, a stubborn if not (seemingly) intractable habit at that!

 

So, let’s drill down just a bit further into this anatomy of a habit and look at bad habits a bit closer. When the brain relinquishes control to a habit…when it goes on autopilot…it can divert attention to other issues/matters. It is this diversion of attention to other matters that makes changing a habit so difficult because the brain, our reasoning center, is busy doing other things. Add to this the complication of physical dependence that can accompany some habitual behavior, say to the nicotine in tobacco, opioids or amphetamines in certain prescription meds, or ethyl alcohol in alcoholic beverages, and habits involving the use of these substances are that much more difficult to change. Fortunately, for most of us, physical dependence on a drug is not a complicating factor, but even if it is, change does not result from “fighting the bad habit,” it comes from re-engaging the brain to identify a different and competing behavior.

 

For example, Michael is overweight, his A1C is 11.2, and his dietary habits leave much to be desired. If after seeing his doctor and getting the results of his blood work realizes he decides to change his eating habits and lose weight by “going on a strict diet,” chances are less than good that he will succeed. The challenge he faces is taking on a well-established patter of eating behavior, one triggered by cues such as stress, anxiety, or boredom with the simple decision—and a very non-specific one at that—to rely on willpower to enforce his diet (more on willpower in another essay, but suffice it to say that willpower is a skill that one can learn and develop but Michael’s simple decision “to diet” is no match for his well-established habit).

 

Michael would be more successful in changing his eating habits if he focused less on doing battle with the carbs and more on engaging in alternative behaviors to eating them. For example, replace trying to “stop eating” donuts with “counting calories” to stick to a diet of consuming “X” calories per 24-hour period. He might focus less on food and more on exercise or less on “losing 30 pounds and more on meeting with a nutritionist. The point is, that the way to approach changing a “bad habit” is to focus less on the habit and more on an alternate or competing behavior. Put in simple terms, the trick is to pursue what you want rather than avoid what you don’t.

 

Returning to the opening quote from Mark Twain, habit is habit, meaning that it simply exists. It is neither “good” nor “bad,” it is a shortcut our brains readily welcome as an efficient means to an end. When this normal process of developing shortcuts, however, results in creating more problems than it resolves, it is time to change. But change does not so much result from doing battle with one’s demons; it results from turning off the autopilot and re-engaging the brain in the process of decision-making, especially when cues arise to ensure developing alternative or competing behaviors to the “bad habit.”

 

Remember: habits are both natural and useful. Ironically, one can use this fact to change an unwanted or “bad habit”; establish a new habit to replace the old one. Keep in mind, however, all habits are stubborn, especially “bad habits” so for a successful alternative, look for something you enjoy, something you can see yourself doing and sticking with long enough for it to become your “new routine.” 

What do you think?