Source: examinedexistence.com

1. We think that the decisions we make everyday are cleverly thought out, but in fact, 40% of our daily doings can be attributed to habits.
2. Habits are stored in a golf-ball sized group of cells close to the centre of the skull called the basal ganglia and people who have suffered brain damage causing short term memory loss can still develop habits, even though they will forget the name of the nurse that takes care of them everyday.
3. Once a habit is formed, it cannot be removed. It must instead be overpowered by a stronger habit that delivers the same reward as the old habit. Scary, right? That’s why we easily slip into our old habits even if we manage to have the willpower to quit the habit for a month.
4. Advertising companies that analyze big data love feeding on the prey of society’s habits. Companies like these will often be the second person to find out that a woman is pregnant due to what she buys in the store.
5. Sleep walking is a habit, and people have been known to ride bikes, rape people and even kill while being completely asleep. Hopefully the latter two don’t apply to you!
6. Toothpaste doesn’t actually need to leave a slight tingling on your tongue when you’re finished brushing. But in fact the company, Pepsodent, to make the brushing of teeth a habit, realized that they needed a sensation; a reward for people to realize they had remembered to brush their teeth.
7. How to change a habit – A habit is made up of four parts – a cue, a routine and a reward, and then a craving if the reward isn’t achieved. In order to change the bad habit, you must change the routine, e.g. replace eating a scone from the CBS Canteen with eating an apple, but keep the same cue and reward. Often you do not realize what is triggering the bad habit. Most alcoholics don’t drink because they want to feel drunk; there is always an underlying reason. Maybe they drink because it gives them a sense of escape, maybe they do it to release stress, or maybe they have problems sleeping. Substituting the alcohol (the routine) with hanging out with a friend, or going for a run or doing yoga, could produce the same reward.

   Source: Charles Duhigg

8. Habits let our brain work more efficiently. Imagine if you had to think about how to ride a bicycle every time you had to go to work. Imagine if you had to re-learn how to tie your shoes every time you went for a run. Imagine if you had to think about how you brushed your teeth every morning and night. Our brains would tire way too easily, and we would have no energy to perform much more complex tasks like solving new problems, and giving advice to a friend in need.
9. People who exercise at roughly the same time everyday will find it easier to stick to their exercise routine.
10. Good habits have spillover effects to other parts of our lives. Something so simple as making your bed in the morning has a correlation to better productivity and enhanced well-being! People who start exercising automatically start eating healthier, and drinking less alcohol… When parents make it a habit to eat dinner with their children around the dinner table, the children will grow up to be more confident, more emotionally stable and more likely to get good grades and do their homework.

 

Want to know more about this subject? Read “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, it will change the way you think about habits (unless, out of habit, you never think about your habits…) Good luck habit-breaking!

About the Author : Sidsel Marie Lyhne

At the meagre age of 19, Sidsel is the youngest of the CBSLife crew. Although she is Danish and loves to shop, party and go to university in Copenhagen, she secretly misses Dubai (where she grew up) on those cold winter nights. She believes she has discovered the meaning of life – to be happy – and she manages to be happy 99% of the time. If you wish to introduce yourself to Sidsel, you are likely to find her with her friends in the middle of the dance floor on Thursday nights at Nexus. She is pretty short though, so finding her can seem like a game of hide-and-seek. When she is not showing off her weird dance moves, she studies International Business and is on her second year.

Tags: bar, Beer, brain, change, discover, exercise, guide, Habits, people, school, self-help, smoking, student, think, today, university

Previous Post
Next Post

Related News

• April 22, 2014.
  Bitch please, don’t slap my ass

• April 22, 2014.
  Copenhagen’s Treasures: Lust (Just Go, You Will Thank Me Later)

• April 21, 2014.
  Exploring the world through AIESEC