"Many of us have a tendency to move through our days on autopilot, guided by habits we've built over time, including some that support us, some that may be holding us back, and some we keep meaning to or wish we could change. The small behaviours we repeat each day may seem insignificant, yet over time, they shape the quality of our lives."
"There's research that suggests that around half of what we do each day is done automatically (Neal et al., 2006). Behaviours we've repeated often enough become habits, actions we take with little or no conscious thought. Without them, our brains would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of decisions we'd have to make each day. In many ways, they're the brain's way of being efficient."
"The challenge is that we often keep doing what we've always done simply because the patterns and routines are familiar, even when we know there is a better or different way. The first step in changing any habit is self-awareness. In my previous post, we explored some key building blocks of behaviour change and the idea that there's often one behaviour that, if we stopped or started doing it, could make a big difference for us."
"When we think about our habits, it helps to take morality out of the equation and loosen the grip that guilt and shame can sometimes hold. Habits are behaviours we repeat because they're familiar and often reinforced. Some are adaptive and move us closer to our goals, while others lead us further away. Two questions I invite you to sit with: Are my habits moving me closer to my goals and the person I want to be,"
Many daily actions run on autopilot through habits built over time. Research suggests a large portion of daily behaviour occurs automatically, helping the brain avoid constant decision-making. Familiar routines can persist even when they no longer serve goals. Changing habits begins with self-awareness, including identifying the behaviours that most strongly influence outcomes. A useful reframe removes morality, guilt, and shame from habit evaluation, treating habits as familiar behaviours reinforced by past patterns. Some habits support goals and identity, while others move away from them. Habit change also depends on connecting behaviours to values and creating environments that make desired actions easier to repeat.
Read at Psychology Today
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