The Power of Habit
question
What are your main obstacles of executing the premise of this book?

You read the book b/c you obviously want to change your lives through your habit. The book even has an appendix section and worksheets to help the reader change their habits. However, things are usually easier said than done. Therefore, I'm asking the question here.
Is it just taking consistent action?
Is it not defining the actions small enough?
Is it struggling to find the right routines and rewards?
I would love to hear what you think!
Is it just taking consistent action?
Is it not defining the actions small enough?
Is it struggling to find the right routines and rewards?
I would love to hear what you think!
reply
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I think maintaining the routine is very difficult for me. It depends on the persons lifestyle, my days tend to vary just enough to prevent the same cue's from always triggering which makes the routine harder to start.
deleted member
Feb 06, 2015 05:04PM
1 vote
My problem is that I get stuck in the 'all or none' scenario where I encounter two problems:
1. I try to change all my bad habits at once, therefore making it harder to be successful.
and
2. When I make a mistake in my routine, etc. I feel like I've failed and put off the whole thing.
I loved this book though. I thought the loop was a good way to simplify why you do things. Others are saying it isn't complex enough, but in an abstract way, my cues/rewards can all be simple states of mental being. For example, happiness as a reward or anxiety as a cue. I think it can certainly work with practice. Just like everything else!
1. I try to change all my bad habits at once, therefore making it harder to be successful.
and
2. When I make a mistake in my routine, etc. I feel like I've failed and put off the whole thing.
I loved this book though. I thought the loop was a good way to simplify why you do things. Others are saying it isn't complex enough, but in an abstract way, my cues/rewards can all be simple states of mental being. For example, happiness as a reward or anxiety as a cue. I think it can certainly work with practice. Just like everything else!
I try to do the little things to make something a habit. small things on a daily basis and it's not very difficult and you won't get burned out. You have the rest of your life to live and it doesn't all have to happen in one day!
One habit at a time that is what is working for me. Love the book. Could not stop reading it
Is it just taking consistent action?
Actually more than that, a change in lense to view the problem if you will
Is it not defining the actions small enough?
Not necessarily
Is it struggling to find the right routines and rewards?"
No. Apply a routine which comes to the mind, if it works, that's great and if not replace it with a different one.
I think the awareness of cue-routine-reward is very enlightening. Now I know how I left the habit of smoking, simply just change the routine against the reward. So yes, being aware of the concept is the key, give it a pilot run by focusing on only one habit.
I quit smoking after 9+ years. Whenever I felt craving(cue), I began doing anything that is productive (routine) giving me a sense of relief and happiness (reward) ... the exact routine to the cue might net necessarily work for everyone but should provide a hint
Actually more than that, a change in lense to view the problem if you will
Is it not defining the actions small enough?
Not necessarily
Is it struggling to find the right routines and rewards?"
No. Apply a routine which comes to the mind, if it works, that's great and if not replace it with a different one.
I think the awareness of cue-routine-reward is very enlightening. Now I know how I left the habit of smoking, simply just change the routine against the reward. So yes, being aware of the concept is the key, give it a pilot run by focusing on only one habit.
I quit smoking after 9+ years. Whenever I felt craving(cue), I began doing anything that is productive (routine) giving me a sense of relief and happiness (reward) ... the exact routine to the cue might net necessarily work for everyone but should provide a hint
I believe that habits are powerful. Correcting the cue -> habit -> reward loop however, seems to me much more applicable when we are working with Pavlov's dog that is oblivious of the experiment and apparently chooses from a limited set of responses. The idea of "rewarding myself" appears rather farce. However, identifying the cue, identifying the reward and consciously changing the "autopilot" connecting the two, in my opinion, only trains one to be more mindful. Don't get me wrong, I am not talking of Buddhist teachings but mindfulness to me is just that - being aware and careful of the action; every action and the results.
I liked the book for the writing, however, I could not really find anything to apply to my life. The cues keep changing, the rewards are not the same everyday and the idea of replacing one autopilot for another (though a better one), simply doesn't make much sense.
I liked the book for the writing, however, I could not really find anything to apply to my life. The cues keep changing, the rewards are not the same everyday and the idea of replacing one autopilot for another (though a better one), simply doesn't make much sense.
The hardest part is intercepting habitual actions taken in my brain stem (not meant to be neurologically precise) and moving them to my cerebellum.
I focus on powerful habits, I ask myself before I choose on what habit I want to focus, will it change the quality of my life drastically or is not worth the time and effort? For example I want to be more active, positive, motivated and have more energy to do things I usually don't have energy to do. And I tried many habits to achieve that state, but they needed too much effort for incremental results. It's like you try on something and it doesn't fit is not the right size... So I drop them and try other one to see how it will go. For the moment I found 4 habits that together chive this result, and I do not have to force myself to do other habits because now my body wants to do them, like for example when I sleep right and have 2 healthy habits in eating, I want to exercise because I want it, it becomes fun. It's amazing when I find the one habit that starts the domino effect. Find the one habit that will make other habits easier to start. Also I condition myself for some habits, like for example I want to write regularly, so for that I launched a blog, because I know that when some of my work is public I do it more consistently and it worked, I started to write without even going trough the process of acquiring a habit, I just had in back of my mind that I need to post something by the end of the week.
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