A large part of life is made up of habits. These habits may be very useful, help and cause growth and progress in the path of life and achieving goals, or they may be bad, harmful and destructive habits in life. The human mind is not able to distinguish a good or bad habit and behavior, and every movement and behavior becomes a habit after some time of repetition. In general, the habits of each person play a very important and decisive role in his life. Every person has done many things during a day just out of habit and has never paid attention to whether that action is good or bad.
Some habits are created without thinking in people, and as a result of observing that behavior in parents and people around them, it becomes a behavioral habit, some of them were premeditated and efforts have been made for a long time to do them. It is very difficult and time-consuming to change the behavior that has become a mental habit and we do it unconsciously, but it is not impossible and can be removed or changed in stages. We will talk more about it in the rest of this article, stay with us.
What is a habit?
Habit is a usual way of behavior that a person has settled in, that is, performing that behavior has become a part of the person’s personality and behavior. It is interesting to know that all our habits are placed in a lump in the brain. If these masses, which are called “pedal ganglia”, are destroyed or have problems, all our work and behavior will have problems and we will no longer have the ability to do many things that we used to do easily all the days of our lives. In our life, many things are done based on these habits, these habits include very minor tasks such as: pairing shoes and tying them, to important and decisive tasks.
Some habits are known as “main habits” and these habits influence the formation of other habits. For example, a person who takes care of his body and is used to regular exercise, includes the use of healthy, useful foods and balanced and moderate consumption in his life plan and is considered a part of his life habits. . In business, safety can be a fundamental habit that influences other habits that lead to greater productivity.
Ways to change habits
Changing the same habits and methods that we have lived with for a long time and even years is a difficult task, but there are some habits and behaviors in the life of every person that need to be changed for a better life and continue doing it. It may cause harm to the person. It is obvious that habits do not change overnight, for example, to change the habit of overeating and consuming snacks, to eating less and using vegetables, it is necessary to reduce the amount of basic food consumption every day to reach the desired amount.
In behavioral change, such as replacing studying instead of spending time on virtual networks, you cannot put aside your mobile phone for a day and only study, it is necessary to allocate minutes of the time you spend on your mobile phone to study every day and study time every day. increase Be energetic and happy to change habits. According to research, being happy, having social relationships, helping people, and having self-confidence help a lot in changing negative habits and replacing them with good habits and behaviors. Another way to change a habit is to be purposeful, having a purpose for doing anything is a great motivator to achieve what you want.
To change bad habits, you can also get help from a psychologist who is by your side and you can easily connect with the best psychologists through the possibility of online consultation.
Ways to break the habit
To quit bad habits, the most important thing is to be purposeful, that is, when you decide to quit a habit, which you have been doing for a long time willingly or unwillingly, determine your goal of quitting that habit, these goals should be very clear and specific. After specifying the overall goal, divide it into smaller goals, because it is easier to achieve small goals and the feeling of success in doing them gives a person a good sense of self-confidence towards achieving that overall goal.
For example, for a person who wants to quit smoking, according to his past consumption, he should first stop smoking for two days, after these two days, he should refrain from smoking for a week and gradually increase this time. . The next way to get rid of bad habits is to eliminate bad habits one by one, because eliminating all negative habits at the same time is difficult, tiring, and most of the time impossible. The next step is to remember. Remind yourself of your goal and what you need to do.
Habit forming techniques
All people need to create positive habits to have a better life in order to reach a better me. Creating new habits also requires having the will and being determined in the decision because creating a positive habit has the ability to make a huge change in people’s lives and futures.
The process of creating a habit can be divided into four simple steps:
- the sign
- craving
- Response
- reward.
Breaking it down into these basic parts can help us understand what a habit is, how it works, and how to improve it. This four-step pattern is the foundation of any habit, and your brain goes through these steps in the same order every time.
First, give the brain a cue and a goal. A cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. Give your brain a reward for doing anything. Prehistoric ancestors paid attention to signs that indicated the location of basic rewards such as: food, water, and rest. Today, we spend most of our time learning about cues that predict secondary rewards such as: money and fame, power and status, praise and approval, love and friendship, or a sense of personal satisfaction. This means that there is a motive behind doing everything. Placing a reward for achieving a set goal leads to cravings for doing that work.
General summary
Every person has acquired habits during his life that may be useful or harmful to that person, or he needs new habits in life for growth and development. For these reasons, it is necessary to leave some habits and add some new habits to your life. In order to remove and add these habits more easily, it is better to use correct and principled methods.