Habit Building = Reprograming
Pattern Disruption Part 2:
To form a new habit, we often need to break a current one. In this mini-series, we’re diving into “pattern disruption.”
Read Part 1 “Default Settings” HERE
(Part 1: TLDR):
A “habit” is an automatic response to a stimulus
About 40% of our daily behaviors are repeated in the same way and in the same context!
Our brains are great at programming “default settings”: automated behaviors based on repetition
So that our brain power can be used to deal with the less-predictable parts of life.
Our brain makes habits based on what we DO, not what we WANT to do.
Our days may feel more varied than they are because we primarily pay attention to the things that are NOT automated.
Challenge: Keep an eye out for your default settings this week.
Now on to Part 2!
For a long time, I believed that I struggled with habit-building. I have said out loud “Why is my brain broken?!” But my brain was working correctly.
What I meant was: I struggled with intentional habit-building.
By now I hope you see that our brains are expert habit builders. Even though our days may feel unpredictable and varied and we have no habits to rely on, we have LOTS of (possibly) unconscious habits.
When we’re attempting to form good habits, it’s important to see that we are not starting from a blank canvas.
We may say “Starting tomorrow I’m going to sing for an hour every day.”
But life doesn’t carve out a fresh additional ‘hour’ for you because you declare an intention.
And I’m certain you don’t currently have an hour in which you are just staring blankly into space.
(Even if you did…that’s still a habit that would need replacing).
Your desired behavior doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Something else is already happening during the time you intend to do your new habit. And that something else is probably already automated.
Some default settings may be worth keeping, like cooking dinner. Some are less worthwhile like scrolling Instagram.
Whether you like it or not, both are default settings and it’s up to you to decide which you’d like to re-program and replace…
And re-programming the default setting takes a lot of awareness, intention, and LOTS of brain power.
This is one reason I’m such a big advocate for starting small!
It’s way easier to re-program 10 Minutes worth of default setting than it is to re-program an hour’s worth.
And because (I’ll say it again for the people in the back) your brain creates habits based on what you repeatedly DO not what you WANT to do….
Doing just 10 minutes teaches your brain that “this is what I DO now,” and starting small increases the odds of consistent repetition, which increases the odds of automation.
How to Re-program your “Default Settings”:
Decide the time/place you’d like to do your desired habit
Ex: “I’d like to sing everyday, and I think I have more free time in the evening.”
Acknowledge your current default settings for that time and their contexts
Ex: In the evenings I currently: come home from work, take my shoes off, put my stuff down, go to the bathroom, catch up w/ my partner, scroll a bit, pick a podcast, start dinner prep, cook, eat while watching TV, scroll after I’m done eating, clean up from dinner/ finish the podcast, check text etc again, move toward the shower
Decide which Default-Setting you might Re-program:
Ex: First scroll. After I come home, but before starting dinner
Create a Disruption Plan:
Ex: I’m moving my instagram icon somewhere else on my screen so that if I habitually open it after I come home, I remember I’m supposed to start singing.
State the Habit Plan:
Ex: I am singing after I catch up with my partner and before we start cooking for 10 minutes in the bedroom.
What patterns are you disrupting this week? Let me know HERE.