Pattern Disruption Part 1: Default Settings

Our brains have an amazing capacity for forming habits!
But sometimes when we fail to form “good” habits, it doesn’t feel that way.

Intentionally forming a new habit is tough, because, in a way, we are working against the current patterns and behaviors our brain has already formed. 

Before we talk about the new habits we want to create, we have to talk about the habits we currently have.

The next few blog posts are about patterns and pattern disruption! This one is all about our “default settings.”

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Let’s think back to the definition of a “habit.” It’s an automatic response to a stimulus. 

Many of us have LOTS of “automatic responses” that fly under our conscious radar (for better or worse) because they’ve been repeated so many times. 

The current statistic is 40% ... 40% of our daily behaviors are repeated in the same way and in the same context!!!

These behaviors have been repeated enough times that our brains automate the behavior so that we no longer have to think about it.

These behaviors become our presets… our default settings.

Have you ever commuted home from work and barely even realized you were driving until you pulled into your driveway? That’s your brain doing its job! Your brain and body have repeated this sequence of decisions and actions so many times, it can now “automatically respond to the stimuli.”

When you see the street sign, you turn your blinker on and turn the wheel with just enough effort to get in the correct lane. 

When the light turns green, you take your foot off the break on move it to the gas…etc. 

You also probably: drink your coffee in the same spot each day, eat your meals around the same time, brush your teeth in the same circular pattern,  use the bathroom roughly the same amount of times, check your phone after you complete a task… 

40% felt like A LOT to me. But that number only seems high because our brain says “You don’t need to pay attention to that anymore.” So we don’t! 

This is an amazing feature of our human brains!  It does this SO THAT we have more brain power to respond to things that are OUT of the ordinary, especially things that could affect our immediate safety.

If you notice a car not slowing down at a stop sign on your commute home, you adjust your behavior accordingly. If we had to pay attention to “What street am I on right now?” every time we drove home, maybe we wouldn’t notice the car blowing the stop sign. 

This is why our days may feel more varied than they actually are: we primarily pay attention to the things that are out of the ordinary. 

We’re aware that we need to choose a response…which requires lots of brain power. We notice it because there’s no default code.

Our brain is mostly concerned with keeping us alive right now…

It forms patterns around what we DO… but not necessarily what we want to do, or what’s best for us in the long term. 

So while having default settings can be wonderful, it can also form “bad” habits easily. 

In the next post, we’ll dive into “What do we do about it?”

This week, your challenge is to bring awareness to your “default settings.”

Keep a “default settings” list and decide if the items are things you’d like to keep or “reprogram.”

(This podcast episode of the Long and the Short of It provides a cool exercise called a “habit audit!” Give it a listen!)

For now, take comfort in knowing your brain is working just as it’s supposed to. AND you can use your brain’s pattern power to your advantage with some strategic planning.

What are some of your default settings, and which ones surprised you most? Let me know here!