Habits – ditch the bad ones, grab the good ones - 

by Isla Baliszewska, Life and Performance Coach at the Wellbeing Clinic

 My foray into coaching began when someone told me that they had learned how to get out of their own way.  What they meant on a deeper level, was they were moving away from behaviours that did not suit their aspirations, they were effectively changing their habits.

On a neurological level habits are a 3 step loop, starting with a cue (hunger), moving on to a routine (eating), then finishing with a reward (satiation).  Once your habit is ingrained your brain becomes less engaged in the decision making process.  So unless you deliberately challenge and kick against a habit, you will revert to the established behaviours.  Although habits never disappear, understanding how they form gives you an edge in changing them.  

Our habits become so ingrained we lose awareness of the cues that trigger the routines.  Studies show that if we create a simple cue and a very clear reward, your brain starts anticipating that reward which affects your behaviours and pulls you towards that new habit.  Say you want to start an exercise regime but can’t get motivated.  Your simple cue could be to put your gym bag by the door every day.  Your reward might be to have a great coffee with a friend afterwards.

One of the biggest distractions to employees and business people is the ‘need’ to respond to emails and texts.   Simply turning off the buzz announcement for texts removes the cue that prompts your old habit of immediately responding.  The reward is implicit – you are more focused and productive! 

Changing habits isn’t easy and working with someone to make this happen and make the changes stick is a great way forward.  You can find out more about how to build new positive habits that work for you through coaching with NLP by contacting us at the Wellbeing Clinic on 01672 513583.