{"id":1444,"date":"2022-05-08T11:39:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T11:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lynn.global\/?p=1444"},"modified":"2023-02-21T10:24:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T10:24:00","slug":"all-about-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lynn.global\/all-about-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"All about habits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s the 2nd of January. You pull off the label to your brand new gym tights and pull them on, take a swig of your ultra-green smoothie, and brave the cold. You\u2019re ready to start your new healthy habit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You give up after a week and a half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old habits, it would appear, are hard to break. The process requires persistence which, in turn, requires overcoming obstacles, difficult times and discouraging outcomes. Reverting to old habits often seems easier. In order to shift habits, it takes understanding of their workings \u2013 and their power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what are habits?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Professor Wendy Wood, habits are \u2018mental representation \u2013 or a mental shortcut \u2013 that helps you repeat what you\u2019ve done in the past\u2019. In other words, habits are automatic. Being part of our primary operating system, we enact habits without much thought, performing actions or responses that have been successful or rewarded in the past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Becoming healthier\u2019 as part of your New Year\u2019s resolution is unpleasurable and, sometimes, downright painful. At first, there seems to be no immediate rewards or successes (anyone who has attempted a \u2018couch to 5k\u2019 having never run before will understand the agony of this often doomed first attempt at getting fit). At the very beginning, you don\u2019t look better and you certainly don\u2019t feel<\/em> better. Reverting to the old habit \u2013 cuddling on the couch with a bag of crisps \u2013 offers a small, false sense of reward. For the short-term, at least. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is worth remembering is that habits are learned behaviours \u2013 they are the associations we make between responses, context and rewards. The more we are rewarded in some way, the more we repeat the behaviour until it becomes second nature. Until it becomes a habit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to say this is easy: habit formation is hard. But habit disruption is harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habit disruption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In his book Atomic Habits<\/a><\/em>, James Clear writes: \u201cIf you\u2019re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn\u2019t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don\u2019t want to change but because you have the wrong system for change\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, \u2018system[s] for change\u2019 are the ways by which we can achieve our goals. Take our theoretical \u2018get healthy\u2019 example. If we plan to go running every day as a partial means of achieving this, but have set no time aside to do so, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Similarly, if we plan to eat healthily but our partner would prefer we didn\u2019t, this isn\u2019t an ideal system for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why incentivising our new habit \u2013 at least to begin with \u2013  is imperative in the road to behaviour change. The motivation to go out for a run in the cold and rain might be hard to muster, but if you\u2019ve promised yourself a treat if \u2013 and only if \u2013 you do it, going out becomes that much easier. After a while, the habit isn\u2019t new anymore; it\u2019s automatic. And the longer it\u2019s performed, the stronger it becomes. And the harder it is to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As James Clear sees it: \u2018Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of our habits multiply as we repeat them.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in using behavioural science to understand your audiences better? Our second behavioural insight article delves into choice architecture, which you can read here<\/a>. Alternatively, you can write to us at contact@lynnpr.co.uk to get started on your behavioural insights journey.<\/strong>

This article was written by Shayoni Lynn, CEO & Founder at Lynn.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever made a promise to yourself to exercise more, drink less, eat healthy?<\/p>\n

You even made a great start (Fresh Start Effect, anyone?) with trips to the gym, switching to non-alcoholic beer, or remembering your 5 a day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[54,55,28,77,11,76],"class_list":["post-1444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","tag-behaviour-change","tag-behaviour-change-communications","tag-behavioural-science","tag-changing-habits","tag-communications","tag-habits"],"yoast_head":"\nAll about habits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For us or our audiences, healthy habits are hard to form. 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