How to build habit in 4 steps

Are you aware that your habits shape your identity and that your identity shapes your habits? Do you feel that it is difficult to maintain good habits for more than a few days in a row? Do you want to learn how to create good habits more easily and maintain them without so much trouble and effort?

I will share some tips with you on how to change your behavior more easily, how to create good habits, and how to get rid of bad ones.

What Is a Habit?

A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and has become automatic. A habit can be learned and unlearned. Changing habits can be a challenge because we either try to change the wrong things or we try to change our habits in the wrong way.

There are three levels of behavior change:

1. Change in outcomes
2. Change in processes
3. Change in identity

Change in outcomes

The first level is concerned with changing your results, such as losing weight, passing an exam, or winning a competition. Most of the goals you set are focused on this level.

Change in processes

The second level is concerned with changing your habits, for example, implementing a new routine at training, starting a meditation routine, or decluttering your workspace/study space to be more productive. Most of the habits you build are associated with this level.

Change in identity

The third and deepest level is concerned with changing your beliefs: your world-view, your self-image, your judgments of yourself and others. Most of the beliefs and assumptions you hold are associated with this layer.

Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe.

The vast majority of people begin the process of change by focusing on what they want to achieve, rather than who they wish to become. When they set out to change, most do not think about identity change at all. They only think about the outcome (“I want to be skinnier”) or the process (“If I stick to this diet, then I will be skinnier”).

They set goals and decide what needs to be done without considering the beliefs that drive their actions. Until a person changes the way they view themselves and realizes that their old identity can sabotage new plans for change, they will face massive challenges in changing their habits.

True behavior change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you will maintain it is because it becomes part of your identity. Anyone can convince themselves to go to a workout or eat something healthy once or twice, but if you don’t change the beliefs behind the behavior, it is hard to stick to a change long-term.

How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps

1. Cue
2. Craving
3. Reposnse
4. Reward

The cue triggers our brain to initiate a behavior. Our brain is continuously analyzing our internal and external environment for hints of where rewards are located. The craving is the motivational force behind every habit. Without some level of desire or motivation, we have no reason to act.

What we actually crave is not the habit itself, but the change in state it delivers.

Thoughts, feelings, and emotions are what transform a cue into a craving. The response is the actual habit you perform, and it delivers the reward. The reward is the end goal of every habit. The first purpose of rewards is to satisfy us, and the second is to teach us a lesson.

Examples:

Sports Example:

We would absolutely love to encourage you to start setting aside time during the day to examine your habits—your sleeping habits, waking habits, pre- and post-workout routines, and nutrition. These are all areas that you can improve little by little, allowing yourself to become a better person and a better athlete!

First, bring these habits into your awareness to see what you are doing, how, and why, and then use the tips from this blog to take action! Build habits that will lead you toward becoming the person you want to be and fulfilling your full potential!

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Mental Training Blog guest: Lucija Cvitanović, mag. psych.