Turning the Power of Habits to Your Advantage
Habits – What Are They?
Let’s consider a practical application of brain
basics – in this case habits, those involuntary behaviors
controlled by the subconscious mind. How much of what we do is habitual?
Studies by neurobiologists, cognitive psychologists, and others indicate that
from 40 to 95% of human behavior – how we think, what we say, our overall
actions – falls into the habit category. If we select a conservative 50%, we
are on automatic pilot half the time. Have you driven your car a few blocks and
suddenly realized you couldn’t recall having done so? Your driving was largely
habit, and your subconscious mind was “at the wheel.”
You may be thinking, “That’s fine for routine activities,
but certainly not when dealing with serious matters! When designing, preparing
proposals, and making important decisions, I am always concentrated and
focused.” But lo and behold, research says no! Much of what you do, including
your professional work, is heavily driven by habits.
Clearly, habits can be “good” and “bad”; both kinds sneak up
and capture us. Investigative reporter and author Charles Duhigg explains that
habits are “the choices that all of us deliberately make at some point, and
then stop thinking about but continue doing, often every day.” In other words,
when you contemplate any of your habits – good and bad – you realize you
learned them, which means you can unlearn them, or better yet, replace them.
Let’s explore what neuroscience can teach us about this promising
unlearning/replacing idea.
The Cue-Routine-Result Process:-
Changing or Replacing Habits:-
Consider a method that you might have used in your life for
unlearning what you consider a “bad” habit and replacing it with a desired
“good” habit. That method is based on the cue-routine-result process, in which
new habits are developed through many repetitive cue-routine-result cycles.
Let’s revisit the previously mentioned unproductive
meet-a-potential-client scenario with this in mind. This scenario is not
working for you. It’s a bad habit. Starting today, when you experience the cue
of meeting a potential client, try to remember to enter a new routine, like
asking questions of him or her. Then try to note and remember the result. That
one-time change will not be easy, and you are very far from replacing your bad
habit with a new habit. You must persist.
The next time you experience the cue, you must faithfully
repeat the new routine, or refine it, and follow through. No, I don’t know how
many cycles you will need, but many. My rule of thumb is 30 days of successful
repetitions. Eventually, your subconscious mind learns the new habit. The
payoff is that you automatically, habitually, productively go into a
question-asking mode when meeting a potential client. Stress declines and
marketing performance improves.
There Must Be an Easier Way:-
You may be thinking, “I like this good-habit idea. Habitually
practicing productive behaviors – being on smart automatic pilot – appeals to
me. However, learning a habit by this tedious, cyclical process seems
burdensome. That reminds me of how I learned how to use a keyboard, play the
trombone, or drive a car. Therefore, I’m going to circumvent the cycle and
simply think myself or talk myself from some bad habits into some good habits.”
Sorry, won’t work. Your subconscious mind is illiterate –
you can’t talk to it. As stated by Neal Martin, author of the book Habit (2008), “The habitual mind is nonverbal, so
it doesn’t learn by reading or listening to an explanation. It learns
unconsciously through associating an action with an outcome.” In other words,
habits are learned via the tedious cue-routine-result cycle.
The Long View:-
If the possibility of habit creation or change interests you, then
consider the long-term potential for you as a leader and mentor, that is, one
who positively influences others. Philosopher and psychologist William James
explains the potential this way: “Small, seldom-seen habits have the power to
bear us irresistibly toward our destiny.” Because of what you now know about
one aspect of the workings of your brain, you have the ability to form positive
“small, seldom-seen habits” that profoundly affect your life and those of
others.
Some brain basics at work for you – and the application of
those basics is just the tip of the applied neuroscience iceberg.
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