{"id":207,"date":"2017-06-12T12:45:48","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/?p=207"},"modified":"2023-08-30T16:05:52","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T15:05:52","slug":"habits-how-to-succeed-on-automatic-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/habits-how-to-succeed-on-automatic-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Habits: How to succeed on automatic pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cBehaviour is the mirror in which everyone shows their image\u201d
\nGOETHE<\/h6>\n
\"airliner<\/figure>\n

A habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. The reason habits matter is that once established, they are more or less automatic, which makes for great economy of action, i.e. it becomes very easy to act in a particular way. So, habits make us highly efficient – we can act without having to engage in conscious thought or to undertake time-consuming self-analysis. With the right set of habits we can succeed at any number of things more or less on autopilot!<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have a \u2018habit\u2019, each time there is a beneficial (but potentially challenging) thing to do, you have to make a conscious act of will to do it. This involves expending emotional energy on the decision process, rather than allowing the habit to take the strain. For example, \u201cI take the stairs rather than the escalator \u2013 because that is what I do \u2013 that is my habit \u2013 that is who I am \u2013 I do not allow myself the choice to do otherwise \u2013 ever.\u201d (Note that the rationale for taking the action is no longer there \u2013 it is not needed. All that is needed is obedience to the habit.)<\/p>\n

There is, of course, a \u2018dark\u2019 side to all this. The unconscious, spontaneous aspect of habits can potentially make it easy to do things that benefit us (getting things done, exercising, meditating) but it is just as easy to repeatedly and unthinkingly do things that harm us (smoking, procrastinating, lethargy). The neurological process that creates habits does not distinguish between good and bad; it takes an act of conscious will to promote beneficial ones and extinguish the harmful ones. Sadly, as most of us know, old habits are very hard to break, and new habits are very hard to form because the behavioural patterns we repeat are imprinted in our neural pathways, so mastering our habits takes perseverance.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/a>Habit loops<\/h2>\n

Charles Duhigg in the The Power of Habit notes that habits have a three-part structure:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A Cue: A \u2018signal\u2019 that triggers the start of the behaviour (e.g. putting your running shoes by your front door; you see the shoes and think \u2018run\u2019!)<\/li>\n
  2. A Routine: Engaging in the behaviour (going for the run)<\/li>\n
  3. A Reward: The pay-off from engaging in the behaviour (the rush of endorphins that comes from doing exercise, enjoying the sense of achievement that comes from completing a task).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The best way to remove a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. So, the first step is to notice what \u2018cues\u2019 a negative behaviour (e.g. feeling bored), which initiates a \u2018bad\u2019 routine (e.g. eating a chocolate bar) and then change cues and\/or routines to improve the situation. E.g. for the cue of \u2018feeling bored\u2019 we might adopt a new, more positive routine e.g. surf the Internet, phone a friend (rather than eat chocolate). Of course, it takes a conscious effort to establish the new habit; making improvements takes will power! In fact, Lally et al. (Journal of Social Psychology 2010) found the average time to establish a \u2018habit\u2019 was 66 days, with a range of 18\u2013254 days.<\/p>\n

    <\/i><\/a>Keystone habits<\/h2>\n

    In terms of developing new habits one big idea is the notion of a \u2018Keystone Habit\u2019; these are \u2018super habits\u2019 that influence behaviours in a wide range of situations (i.e. it\u2019s a habit that affects your entire life.) Keystone habits can be identified by asking the question: \u201cWhat\u2019s the one thing, which if I did it consistently, would have the most benefit in my life?\u201d E.g. exercise more, eat better, stop smoking, improve my sleep hygiene, show more affection to my partner, embrace opportunities, do public speaking etc. And then frame that \u2018topic\u2019 as a specific goal that can become an automatic routine e.g. \u201cI\u2019ll walk 10,000 steps every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

    One example that the research highlights as a keystone habit is exercise, because typically someone who keeps fit also eats reasonably healthily and sleeps soundly. Another is meditation. Research from the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging suggests that people who meditate show more gray matter in certain regions of the brain, show stronger connections between brain regions and show less age-related brain atrophy (i.e. meditation can make your brain bigger and faster). So, one \u2018keystone habit\u2019 for people who commute on public transport could be to take a few minutes on each journey to close their eyes and meditate. Or for people who drive to work it might make sense to leave a little early, park and spend a few minutes in the car meditating before going into the office.<\/p>\n

    <\/i><\/a>Bright lines and rituals<\/h2>\n

    In legal contracts there is the concept of having \u2018bright lines\u2019, or clear, unambiguous boundaries; so it is obvious and unarguable whether or not something has, or hasn\u2019t, been done. For example \u2018stay hydrated\u2019 or \u2018get more sleep\u2019 are fuzzy lines, while \u2018drink a litre of water a day\u2019 or \u2018go to bed at 11pm every evening\u2019, are clear, bright lines. In setting new habits it really helps to adopt bright lines. And, as far as habits as concerned, the brightest line is if you agree to do something (even for just a few minutes) each and every day, as opposed to, say, twice a week.<\/p>\n

    Rituals (highly specific behaviours, done at precise times of the day) are one type of \u2018bright line\u2019. They are a highly effective way of avoiding work overload as they can be used to \u2018programme\u2019 in breaks, pauses, and \u2018re-set\u2019 moments into the day. For example, a ritual might be that you go to bed at the same time every night so that you consistently get enough sleep, or exercise as soon as you wake up to be sure you get exercise, even when you don\u2019t feel like it. One ritual that\u2019s commonly taught as part of a time management programme (it\u2019s certainly part of our training) is at the end of each work day to write down the most important task to accomplish the following day; something you\u2019ll do as soon as you get back into work in the morning i.e. before doing anything else. Or you could take advice from Thanh Pham, the productivity blogger, and develop a ritual around \u201cclearing to neutral\u201d, by which he means clearing up at the end of any activity before starting the next task, e.g. put away equipment, or files, or wash up the pans, so that everything is ready to \u2018go\u2019 the next time you start that task.<\/p>\n

    <\/i><\/a>Micro actions (too small to fail)<\/h2>\n

    The smaller the daily goals or challenges you set for yourself when conditioning a new habit, the easier it is to keep going past the 66 day mark, when it\u2019s likely to have become automatic and unconscious. So Stephen Guise in his book Mini Habits<\/em> suggests that you make your goals \u2018stupid small\u2019, so small that it\u2019s almost impossible not to do it. Of course the idea is that if you start with just one tiny step, that gives you the impetus to do much more than that. An example in the book, for the keystone habit of exercise, is that rather than specify that you\u2019ll do 30 minutes of exercise each day, just commit to doing one \u2018press-up\u2019, or one \u2018sit-up\u2019, or one minute of stretching. Yes, just one. Once you\u2019ve done that one you can then, if you like, do \u2018bonus exercises\u2019. He argues the key is to develop momentum for making a change and that means making things \u2018too small to fail\u2019. So, don\u2019t say you\u2019ll do ten sales or marketing phone calls each day; just commit to doing one. Don\u2019t say you\u2019ll start reading for pleasure ten minutes each evening; just commit to one minute. Don\u2019t say you\u2019ll become tidier and better organised; just clear out one shelf, or one desk drawer. Don\u2019t say you\u2019ll manage your team better; just give one piece of feedback (positive or constructive) each workday.<\/p>\n

    <\/i><\/a>Habits that drive competitive advantage<\/h2>\n

    One way of using \u2018habits\u2019 is to drive corporate culture. This is best done by choosing one simple, but core (keystone) behaviour and ask all employees to make it part of their normal routine. So, Lisa Earle McLeod in her 2012 book Selling with Noble Purpose<\/em>, argues that driving sales revenue involves having a focus on what your product or service can do for customers (a Noble Sales Purpose). For McLeod this involves thinking about three issues:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. How your product helps customers<\/li>\n
    2. How you\u2019re different from your competitors<\/li>\n
    3. Your emotional commitment to helping customers
      \n(why you care about what you do).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      And once that focus is in place she suggests identifying a specific behaviour that supports that \u2018purpose\u2019, and this \u2018habit\u2019 should be something that:<\/p>\n