RazzWorks

Don’t you hate it when you have a routine habit of doing something and you try to stop, but the next thing you are doing it again? There are some things in life if you could only get rid of the routine habit, it would make life so much much better in the long run. Even if it was something as small as biting your nails or automatically saying yes to certain questions.

WHAT IS A ROUTINE HABIT

A routine habit is something you do over and over again. At some point in the past, for whatever reason, you decided to do a particular thing, then later you repeated the decision. This occurred in the part of the brain that deals with memories, emotions and recognizing patterns. After awhile, because you repeated this pattern so often it became automatic. That means it is no longer required to use the part of the brain for decision-making.

Example of decision-making turning automatic: Riding a bike at first required you to think, decide, then do. Think to pedal, to move, to maintain balance. Think where you are going and turn the wheel slightly to guide the bike in that direction while remembering to pedal. At first, trying to steer and pedal caused you to be wobbly. Later on, after repeating this process over and over and over, you no longer think about it. You pick up the bike, jump on, and start pedaling a bit, all done automatically without a thought. As a matter of fact, most of the time you just coast, and can even ride & steer with no hands. That’s a basic form of a routine habit. Your brain no longer needs to think about what you are doing, you just do it.

HOW CAN I CHANGE MY ROUTINE HABITS

Now for those routine habits we want to get rid of, due to now knowing better how our mind works, we have a much better chance of being successful. There are lots of different ways and things that can be done. It’s a matter of putting those routine habits back into the thought process. So let us go over some of the things that can be done.

RECOGNIZE THE TRIGGERS
Since we are all different, the first thing you want to do is learn to know why these routine habits exist in the first place. Keep an eye out as to when, how, and why you do certain things. The best way to do this is to keep track of each time it occurs. Use pen and paper, a note pad on the computer, or a note section on your phone. Keep track of what you were doing just before and see if you can discover a pattern.

DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Perhaps it’s your surroundings, or environment that causes it. So do something different so it disrupts the current routine and your mental connection with it. Some examples would be like starting a new hobby, travel a different direction to where you are going, or changing the location altogether.

SET CLEAR EASY TARGET GOALS
With some changes, you should consider breaking them down into smaller more realistic goals. The smaller the better. With bigger or more difficult routine habits, it will help you to build upon your success.

Goals
Learn the basics of goal setting that works.
Check out: 066 BL4ROZE REAL SMART GOALS

FIND A SUBSTITUTION
If you are trying to quit a habit, find something you can replace it with. Preferably something that is more enjoyable compared to their original. Say you wanted to stop having tea or coffee first thing in the morning, try switching it to a tasty energy shake.

REWARD YOURSELF
Give yourself a pat on the back or some small reward every time you successfully avoid your old routine habits or did the substitute instead. Make it a point to reward yourself every time you succeed. The reward will remind your brain that every time I do good, I get something, therefore that part of the brain looks forward to repeating the pattern.

USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM
Work with a friend that wants to make the same changes as you. This way you can encourage each other to try again if something goes wrong. Working with a partner will help to keep you accountable to each other. Also, you can communicate with each other about the difficulties you might be facing and provide each other with possible solutions for better success.

Having routine habits is a normal part of life, however now you no longer need to have your life controlled by them because you have the power to change. So get yourself out there and start making some improvements in your personal life. Keep on going and keep on growing. Feel free to follow us so you will be notified whenever we have a new article posted.