Contents:
- Medical Video: A simple way to break a bad habit | Judson Brewer
- 7 steps change habits
- 1. Start with one habit
- 2. Find who can trigger it
- 3. Commitment
- 4. Do a different pattern
- 5. Visualization alarm
- 6. Give a gift when successful
- 7. Don't give up
- What is the key to success from changing habits?
Medical Video: A simple way to break a bad habit | Judson Brewer
Changing habits is not easy. Often we find that acute smokers want to quit smoking, but don't succeed at the first opportunity. Habits are things that are formed, not just come down from the sky. Changing it is not a simple thing, even though it looks easy. For example, when it's normal, we are able to wake up at 5 am, but on a wake-up day is something that is difficult to do. When you want to change the habit of waking up during the day off on a holiday, you don't necessarily succeed at the first time. Some are successful if it really involves sudden needs. When there was no sudden event, our brain immediately recognized that it was a holiday, the concept of getting up in the afternoon had been embedded.
When you have unhealthy habits, and are associated with serious illness, you inevitably have to change your habits. It's not easy to change habits, even health experts sometimes don't give specific advice to change habits. Even though there are patients who are successful, sometimes they will repeat themselves in the middle. You do not need to be pessimistic, because there are those who succeed, the way is with the strategy of implementing new habits over and over. Then, what are the steps in changing habits?
7 steps change habits
Changing habits means changing what's in our concept. Before you do it, you need to recognize what habits you want to change and why. You certainly don't often hear advice, "If you want to stop, remember again the reason you did it." For new habits to last long, what you have to change is an automated system of that habit. For example, if you wake up usually take a shower, the action becomes automatic, you don't need to think anymore. So when you change habits, you have to endure the automatic system. Here are the steps:
1. Start with one habit
You can be sure when we try to change at once, the results are not always successful. The right way to change habits is to change one habit. Because when we fail in the middle, we have to start over. Choose a new habit, for example "drink a glass of water when you wake up". The easy way is before waking up, we imagine ourselves getting up to sleep immediately taking a glass of water. Imagine starting from waking up, sitting on the bed, stepping out, taking a glass, pouring water, then drinking it. Continue this habit for three consecutive weeks. After three weeks, everything will be easier.
2. Find who can trigger it
Choose what habits you want to change, then find the reasons and triggers. For example, you want to change your habit of sleeping late, and this usually happens because you often browse the internet at night. So, change the habit by sleeping early, and get up early to browse. You can look for triggers to sleep early, such as turning off the computer, the internet, or meditation that makes you decide to go to bed early. Find out the reason why you should change these habits, for example, late sleep makes you not be able to do work in the daytime or cause health problems.
3. Commitment
After deciding to change habits, try to commit to doing it. Write down when you need to start and when you target the habit changes. Don't get hung up by thinking about the hard things in the process, like you want to quit smoking, don't think about how difficult it happened. Think about the reasons and triggers.
4. Do a different pattern
When doing something over and over again for a certain amount of time, people no longer think about doing it, this will become autopilot in the brain. When it becomes autopilot, people no longer focus all their thoughts on what they are doing. Very often found in everyday life, when eating, our brains sometimes think of other things such as work that must be completed next, the situation at home, looking into the past, or thinking about dreams in the future. If left unchecked, the mind will often jump up and down, causing various kinds of thoughts and anxieties.
An easy way to avoid taking action into autopilot is to do different patterns every day, like going home from a different route. If you usually go using a private vehicle, occasionally try using public transportation. It also trains the brain to get used to change. Rooted habits require extra effort and time to change.
5. Visualization alarm
Create an alarm visualization when you can't stand the old habits. For example, can't bear to eat sweets, but you can't eat it for health reasons. So, you can imagine you are eating sweet foods and then in the room at the hospital, waiting for the blood test to be taken because blood sugar is soaring.
6. Give a gift when successful
When successfully doing it in three consecutive weeks, think about the prize that will be obtained. Of course this gift is not something that is contrary to new habits. Don't give a gift of one cigarette, if indeed the habit you want to change is to stop smoking. Think about the items you want to buy, postpone the purchase of goods until three weeks successfully change habits. This might motivate you to be stronger in facing the challenges that come. If it's hard to commit, ask someone to watch and remind you.
7. Don't give up
Changing habits is not as easy as turning your palm. It takes determination and strong motivation to carry it out. Not forgetting also requires support from the closest relatives. When it fails, do not immediately give up and say it is not possible. Remember, this is only part of the way the brain works! Do it again and again. Find the trigger for the failure and try to overcome it better.
What is the key to success from changing habits?
You need to do it repeatedly to change automatic actions. Psychology researchers show that simple activities carried out repeatedly can help change habits. Or you can remember TIP, that is
- Think (thinking): think about and write down what you want to change
- Imagine (imagine): imagine a habit up to the details of your steps to change the habit. You can also imagine squeezing, such as, "I feel embarrassed to speak in public, but I need to do it so that I can progress. So, I will focus on what I think is necessary to do. "
- Practice (practice): start doing it by trying the steps mentioned above.
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