Happiness in Changing Habits (Power of Habit)

Do you think there a connection between habits and happiness?

In his bestseller, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business, author Charles Duhigg makes the assertion that habits are not broken. Instead, he notes that habits must be replaced.

For those of you that follow ancient teachers like Saul of Tarsus, this should be no new revelation. Saul often talked about the need to replace one behavior (habit) with another. (As opposed to eradicating a behavior without finding a suitable replacement for that behavior.) In his letter to the primitive believers in Colossae, he wrote,

But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man…
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity,
Letter to the Colossians Chapter 3

See the Put Off/Put On replacement of habit outlined by this ancient teacher?

Human nature hasn’t changed in 2000 years. Habits are software programmed into the basal ganglia of our brain and are most effectively changed with replacement – not eradication.

Left to its own devices – and without a new habit to cling to – our brains will naturally fall back to the unwanted habit.

The Three Aspects of a Habit

In his book, Charles Duhigg reminds us that changing an unwanted habit into a habit that is helpful and healthy for us begins with understanding what makes up the habit. Here are the three parts he outlines that you have to understand about your unwanted habit if you’re going to successfully replace it with a happy habit which can ultimately help you achieve happiness.

The CUE – The CUE is the one thing – that light switch that is flipped on and triggers you to do the action involved in the habit. You have to look at what comes before the action of the habit (the CUE) to if you are going to understand – and change – the habit. The CUE can be almost anything, but it always comes before the action of the habit.
The ROUTINE – The ROUTINE, of course, is what most people consider the habit itself – the action. Whether that is overeating, chewing your nails, getting angry, picking up a cigarette, they’re all the ROUTINE stage of the habit cycle.
The REWARD – The REWARD is what you – your brain – consciously or subconsciously “gets” out of the ROUTINE stage of the habit cycle. The reward is not the same for every habit, or for every individual. You have to be a detective. Understanding yourself well enough to know what the emotional/psychological payoff is for that action or ROUTINE.

Replacing Unhappy Habits With Happy Ones

Once you’ve identfied the CUE and the REWARD associated with your habit (ROUTINE), you’re ready to begin replacing that habit. What is key here is the REWARD – that’s what your brain wants. So, replacing the ROUTINE (action/activity) with another behavior that will give you the same or similar REWARD is what you want to do.

For example. It’s 6:00 at night and you want something sweet to eat.

Maybe ice cream?

What was the CUE?

Are you hungry? Did you have enough to eat at suppertime?

Are you bored?

Are you physically restless and your brain is telling you to get up off the couch and move – even if it is moving to the freezer?

When it happens every night at a specific time, there is always a CUE.

Once you’ve diagnosed the CUE, it’s time to move onto the REWARD.

What do you get out of eating the ice cream?

Something to do?

Filling hunger pangs?

Bloodflow and movement of getting up off the couch and walking a bit?

There are dozens of “payoffs” that you should consider.

Then, choose an alternate behavior (ROUTINE) that gives you the same or similar REWARD, “payoff.”

So, for example, if the ice cream is only about your brain telling you that your body needs to get up and move a little bit. Or if it’s your brain saying that you’re bored. You can replace the ice cream (ROUTINE) with an activity/behavior that gives you a similar reward – body movement, mental engagement.

In summary, let’s just say that moving away from unhappy habits to happy ones is a lifelong battle for all of us. However, understanding the CUE, ROUTINE, REWARD cycle of your habits will help you understand how habits work, so you can be more effective in swapping the unhelpful habits for the good.

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Until next time, have a happy day.

* I cannot recommend every artist, author, or everything written in every book I mention in my blog. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and where a person or book is right or makes a good point, I will give credit where credit is due