Habits

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When we walk, say thank you to a server, make a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, or go to the gym after work, these are all examples of habits we all know too well. But do we really know how habits work?

Our brain carve out new habits in our #basal ganglia, the core of our brain that converts routine into automatic behavior. Habits are vital to our survival, it helps us makes sense of the world in an efficient way, letting us to focus on the important stuff rather than dealing with minute details all at the same time.

We wake up at sun rise and sleep at sun down. We eat two to three times a day and brush our teeth before and after we go to bed. These are some of the most basic habits our parents ingrained into our system since we were toddlers. However, there are habits that negatively affects us such as smoking, drinking, eating unhealthy foods and whatnot. Nevertheless, all habits are recurring tasks that we do automatically as if in a #loop.

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Resources

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - Chapter 1: The Habit Loop
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2021-07-22

#Are We Responsible For Our Habits?
- Should Angie Bachmann be treated the same way Brian Thomas was forgiven of his out-of-control sleepwalking? Bachmann knew her gambling #Habits existed and therefore have the opportunity to take some conscious action. On the contrary, Thomas can never control something he is not aware of, and therefore should not be held culpable for any actions he made or will do while sleepwalking.
#Social Habits
- “Movements don’t emerge because everyone suddenly decides to face the same direction at once. They rely on social patterns that begin as the habits of friendship, grow through the #Habits of communities, and are sustained by new habits that change participants’ sense of self.”¹
  1. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - Chapter 8: Saddleback Church and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
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#Familiarity
- When things become familiar to us, we become as our brain labels it harmless or safe, or something that can be ignored. When we are trying to make things into new #Habits, we must camouflage the novel into familiars.
#Organizational Habits
- Organizational habits are #Habits that are formed within a body of an organization or company by the independent decisions of each member which can either help keep the best interest of the company, or stir internecine war within.
#Habit Change
- Old #habits are never forgotten nor can be extinguish altogether. We can only replace the routine within our #habit loop, keeping the same cue and delivering the same cravings for the reward. It has been proven through and through by science, that even intercepting the neurological cravings with technology close to our #basal ganglia would not suffice to suppress the targeted habit. It can only suppress long enough while the old habits ready to pounce once the cue is triggered.
#Cravings
- Also, craving helps create #Habits. Ever wonder why some of our plan to build a habit we always end up breaking them altogether? Researchers from MIT have found that in order to build a habit, you have to reinforce a craving. For us to keep within the #Habit Loop, we have to have a cue to crave for the reward. We brush our teeth and feel that tingling sensation afterwards, cueing us that our mouth is clean. Pepsodent adds citric acid and mint in its formula to generate that cool sensation, however unnecessary to cleanse our mouth. It reminds us that the toothpaste is working, and we crave for it. Many toothpaste brands that predates Pepsodent have failed to make people form the habit to regularly brush their teeth because the craving is missing, therefore people forget or sometimes refuse out of laziness.
#Habit Loop
- Every #Habits has their triggers to send our brain a message letting our #Basal Ganglia to take over.¹ For instance, every month you drive home from work to stop by at McDonalds to buy some fries. Calling it your “cheatday”. That cheatday once a month becomes twice a month. Twice a month becomes once a week. Then once a week becomes twice a week. You promise to yourself to consume fast foods as occasionally as you planned your diet, but sometimes you just can’t help it. Since it already became a habit, every time you drive home after work, your brain decides whether to go straight to McDonalds or go to the gym. Driving home was your cue or trigger. You park your car at McDonalds parking lot similar to how you park your car outside the gym. Someone takes your order and you order the same burger and fries combo you always have as if on cue–routine. Now you take a big bite out of your burger, that familiar yet exhilarating burst of flavors in your mouth, grease dripping down the side of your lips all the while fitting a french fry on whatever space you have left in your mouth sometimes chomping it down like a carrot. Thinking, you deserve to treat yourself every once in a while for working so hard, its time to “reward” yourself. A once a month commitment turned into a habit, and potentially into a lifestyle.
  1. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - Chapter 1: The Habit Loop
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Keystone Habits
- There are #Habits that engage us to do a particular task routinely on a particular cue. Some habits, in addition to building a #Habit Loop, are contagious that cascades down into our daily lives that may change our behavior entirely around the habit. It is called keystone habits.¹
  1. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - Chapter 3: Keystone Habits, or The Ballad of Paul O’Neil
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Zettel Posts
Psychology
Book Notes

Basal Ganglia#
- Basal ganglia controls our automatic behavior such as walking or breathing. Repeated actions or behavior undergo the process called “chunking”, our brain’s way of learning new #habits. As we process new information, our brain requires more memory space to store new memory for recollection. Converting routine activity into a concrete habit is one of our brains primal ability for maximum efficiency. Executing habits require far lesser brain activity and cognitive power than processing new information for the first few times.
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