Create New Kick-Ass Habits
TRAIN YOUR BRAIN & CREATE NEW KICK-ASS HABITS
Article by Jentana Lee Dabbs
Photo Credit: Mike Nguyen
Magazine: Issue #22
Deep down inside (or not so deep down) there is the dream vision of yourself screaming to get out and run free, you know it and you feel it, so why is it so dang difficult to create the new habits and thoughts to unleash that vision?
Triggers.
New habits and thoughts are difficult to improve because we have habitual triggers that are everywhere and the people and surroundings around us influence those triggers.
The “Golden Rule of Habit Change”.
Every habit has three components: a cue (or a trigger for an automatic behavior to start), a routine (the behavior itself) and a reward (“dopamine” which is how our brain learns to remember this pattern for the future.) The moment you open your eyes in the morning in the same bed you have been in for years, you are automatically triggering your “cue” for your normal thoughts and behaviors to begin before your morning coffee, which really seems unfair if you are working towards positive change.
Reframe triggers.
Reframing is the general change in a person’s mindset, whether it is a positive or negative change. People who begin a 12 step AA program for drinking, are required to go to 90 meetings in 90 days and they absolutely cannot be around the influences of the people, places and things that would trigger their drinking to relapse, (the cue) and by reframing their minds through supportive repetition and keeping away from old influences, those old triggers will begin to have little power over them in the future.
Reframing your triggers at home.
Waking up to the same bad habit cues everyday can be a challenge and there are simple ways to reframe your trigger cues and influence new success habits to stick everyday while still in your old “bad habit” environment.
6 steps to reframe your triggers and influence new kickass habits:
- Listen to brain stimulating music everyday, morning and noon
- Listen to relaxing music before bed that puts you in a Zen state
- Listen to inspiring and motivational audio books everyday
- Read a chapter of an inspirational and motivational book everyday
- Exercise at least 20 minutes everyday to stimulate the oxygen and reward chemical in your brain
- Eat a healthy diet of proteins, veggies, healthy fats and low sugars, which will help your body to create a consistent supply of neurons to your brain that stimulates the reward chemical and focus.
Do these 6 steps everyday for 90 days to consistently stimulate the reward chemical in your brain, as studies have shown that new habits can easily develop and over ride old habits when our brain’s “reward” centers are triggered and attached to new habits for life changing results
