I’ve been re-reading The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life an Business this week. It’s fascinating to understand what happens in our brains (specifically the basal ganglia) when a habit is formed.
Much like judgmental heuristics that prompt us to take mental shortcuts when making decisions, habits allow our brains to go on autopilot for ingrained routines. This, of course, can be a good or bad thing depending on the habit.
Habits are powered by simple loops made up of cue, routine, and reward. But the driving force that allows the cue to result in the rewarding routine is craving.
With habits involving nicotine or alcohol, for example, the source of the craving is clear. But if you’re trying to develop an exercise habit, what exactly are you craving?
For most people, it’s that great feeling that comes from the release of endorphins, endocannabinoids, and other neurochemicals. Others also crave the accomplishment that comes from pushing their bodies incrementally further.
The trick, of course, it to work out enough to experience enough of the good stuff to crave it, which in turn allows the habit to form. However many days that takes is open to debate (the “21 days myth” is likely the minimum, not an absolute finish line), but the point is to start slowly enough to achieve incremental change.
If you can just find the motivation to start small and keep going a bit more each day, you can create any habit you want. Simple, but not always easy.
Check out this great keynote presentation by James Clear called 1% Better Every Day. As this talk illustrates, embracing incremental change is not just about developing exercise habits.
Keep going-
Brian Clark
Further
further: resources
Low Touch Food
Virtually everyone knows that whole foods are healthier than their processed counterparts. The real question when it comes to cutting out processed foods is how to continue living your busy, on-the-go life while doing it.
The Beginner’s Guide to Cutting Out Processed Foods
Push Up Your Game
I’ve only recently learned just how great pushups are as an exercise, not just for chest and shoulders, but also for your core. Once you get your regular pushup game down, however, it’s time to take it to the next level. Try some of these tormentors and see how you do.
Tutorial: Getting Started with Explosive Push Ups
Nutrient Poor
There’s a lot of smart advice out there on how to eat healthy. But there are also a ton of misleading/confusing/outrageous tips that can make us feel crazy. What and who do we believe?
We Asked Health Experts to Share the Worst Nutrition Advice They’ve Ever Heard
Trippy Workout
Whether you’re looking to go on a trip to restart your fitness and healthy eating habits, or you just want to go on a trip where you’re not over indulging, healthy retreats are a hot topic when it comes to travel. Here are six interesting options for those so inclined.
Healthy Travel: The Top Retreats for the Health-Conscious Traveller
Chaos is a Ladder
Even as a die-hard entrepreneur, I understand that coming technological, ecological, and societal upheaval is going to result in a serious examination of capitalism’s suitability. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a shift to socialism.
Don’t Be Scared About The End Of Capitalism — Be Excited To Build What Comes Next
Nothing But Net
For the most part, comparing your net worth to that of others is a fool’s game. That said, you might not be doing all that bad compared to the average person, and even if you’re falling short, you can fix it.
Average Net Worth by Age (And How to Increase It)
Will to Power
We’ve discussed on several occasions that relying on willpower to effect change in yourself is a recipe for failure. Instead, you have to create conditions that make success inevitable.
Willpower Doesn’t Work. Here’s How to Actually Change Your Life
Bilingual Brain
You might think that because speaking a second language is so effortful, your decision-making processes in the second language would be impaired. But this isn’t what a recent study of bilinguals found.
How Speaking a Second Language Affects the Way You Think
Self Unaware
We are all afflicted with cognitive biases — so you have to be aware of them and move beyond to grow. New research finds that we have an excellent ability to ignore facts that don’t fit with our own biases, which is likely no surprise to you at all (that’s confirmation bias).
Turns Out Our Biases Really are Stronger Than Our Ability to Perceive Facts
Paging Dr. Freud
Sigmund Freud is likely the most recognized name is psychology, which is unfortunate — because Freud was wrong about a lot, including dreams. Rather than universal symbolism, the significance of your particular dreams must be passed through the lens of you as an individual.
There’s No Such Thing As a Universal Symbol in Dreams
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