"To get rid of a bad habit, you need a reward for good" - Charles Duhigg the power of habits

Scientists were able to describe the process of creating new and getting rid of old habits. We read the book "The Power of Habits" Charles Duhigg, which talks about how to get control of habits, get out of it the fun and share with you.

In the book "force of habit"Charles Duhigg delves into the study habits and explains how they are formed, which affects the whole process and how you can change. We have read this book and share the most interesting facts.

How are habits

Every time we do something new, the brain processes the huge amount of information. He learns new patterns of behavior, feelings and reactions. After a while, when we begin to understand the essence of the job, our behavior becomes automatic, and the amount of mental work is reduced significantly.

Remember the time when you first learned to ride a bike. The physical and mental stress can hardly be forgotten. However, now you can take the bike for fun and travel tens of kilometers, without thinking about how you do it.

Dahigg says:

We call this process of remembering. At the time he created a new memory locations that are responsible for the automation of routine actions. Every day we rely on them tens or even hundreds of times.

How do the cycles habits

Each habit is made up of simple, yet extremely powerful cycle.

Initially formed a signal that tells the brain that you need to go in the "automatic mode" and use a certain habit. Then comes in the action program. It consists of mental and physical activities, responsible for the task. Finally, the award - helps the brain to understand whether or not the habit in order to memorize it.

Over time, the cycle becomes more crisp. Signal and reward intertwine and become inseparable chain to follow this habit.

How to replace a bad habit for good

The first and basic rule - play by the rules. Get out of the cycle "signal - action program - Award" is impossible. Therefore, if you want to get rid of a bad habit, you need to understand how you can replace the signal so that it leads to the same reward.

For instance, on Fridays you go with friends to a nightclub. There you get drunk in the trash in the morning and feel awful. Nevertheless, every week all repeats. Why? In the case of this habit are three awards for you:

1. Socialization and pastime with friends.
2. Meeting new people.
3. Relaxing effect of alcohol.

In order to change the habit of a utility, you need to keep the awards. Alternative - to convince your friends to ride a bike. You'll still spend time with your friends, meet new people, going to new places, and will relax due to physical activity.

To get rid of bad habits and replace it on the good you have to leave unchanged the award.

How to implement a good habit

Cycle "signal - action program - Award" works in this situation. Suppose you are delusional idea to start running in the evenings, but can not bring himself to do it. To do this, you have to come up with the award, which motivates the brain to follow the habit. For example, viewing the series favorite series after each workout.

The availability of the Internet era is not so easy to force myself to not watch the series before you start jogging. However, you need to steel himself for the signal and the award became inseparable. Over time, the brain will not be able to think about the reward without having to run the signal, and then you can safely say that running has become a habit for you.

Based on the book "force of habit"Charles Duhigg