Changing habits often seems like a time-consuming and tedious process. In this article, you can find out why it is still worth questioning habits and how you can change them most effectively. One habit you should not question: like spending time in slotsgem casino live. There is too much to explore.
Habits accompany us throughout our lives, make our everyday lives easier, and even ensure that we stay alive. But even behaviors that aren't actually good for us can become habits.
Perhaps you want to stop smoking, eat less sugar, exercise more, live more ecologically or drink less alcohol? Even if it seems difficult at first glance, you can use simple strategies to change your habits in all these cases and more.
When should we change habits?
Habits make up a large part of our lives. They make everyday routines easier, give us security and stability and, from a neurobiological perspective, are even essential for survival. Because when we perform habits, significantly fewer areas in our brain are active than when we perform new behaviors.
The brain is in “energy-saving mode”, so to speak. This means we don't have to consciously think about putting one step in front of the other when walking or stopping at a red light. This gives us more mental capacity to master new challenges.
However, this mental efficiency can develop to our disadvantage: Sometimes we form habits that hinder us in achieving goals, take away our energy and zest for life or cause damage to our health or the environment.
Habits are usually such natural, everyday and seemingly banal behaviors that we often don't pay much attention to them. However, in the long term, our habits accumulate and have a major influence on our way of life and ultimately on the society in which we live.
1. Become aware of your own habits!
Make a list of all the habits that determine your everyday life and think about which ones you want to change. The first step is to become aware of which of your behaviors are actually habits. To find out, you can make a list of actions that you perform every day. This starts with getting up, having your first coffee or brushing your teeth and extends to cooking in the evening, watching TV or reading.
Now think about which of these habits you could change. Are they positive, negative or neutral behaviors? Do they bring you closer to your goals and self-realization or do they make you feel bad and drain your strength and energy?
It helps to ask yourself why you regularly perform a certain action. You may come up with answers such as:
“I've always done it this way.”
“It happens automatically.”
“It would cost me effort not to do it.”
If you can't think of any other reasons for a behavior, this could be a sign that you should change a habit.
2. Essential to change habits: The triggers
To change habits, it is essential to analyze their triggers. To change or break a habit, you need to identify its triggers. What stimulus triggers an automatic action? Typical triggers are, for example
Time of day: I get up at nine o'clock and have a coffee.
Place: As soon as I get to the office, I eat a chocolate bar.
Emotions: If I've experienced frustration and disappointment, I try to compensate by shopping online.
Social context: Whenever I meet up with certain friends, we smoke together.
It's best to note the corresponding trigger for each “negative” habit on your habit list. This creates an initial awareness. The list can help you to break the reaction between stimulus and response and change habits permanently.
