Changing habits is usually a mentally demanding project. You can read here which strategies can make it easier and increase the chances of success.
Breaking through and changing your usual patterns of thinking and behavior is very, very difficult for most people. And that’s neither a shame nor a surprise. In order not to follow our unconscious routines, we have to use our consciousness, which from a neurobiological point of view is located in our frontal lobe and uses a lot of energy. However, we usually don’t have much of it left in everyday life because we use it for other purposes, for example to solve acute problems, process news and cope with constantly changing tasks and challenges.
Still, the fact that something is very, very difficult is not a particularly good reason not to try it. Some habits and patterns can eventually harm us over time and prevent us from living the life we want. The following strategies can make it easier for us to change our habits, as they sometimes significantly reduce conscious effort and the associated energy expenditure.
4 Surprisingly Effortless Ways to Change Habits
1. Modify the external circumstances.
Our external living conditions inevitably determine our habits. For example, whether we work at home or at an external workplace will affect our daily routine. Whether we can cycle to work or drive a car has an impact on our fitness routine. It may be noticeable in our eating habits whether we live near a greengrocer or next to a chip shop. We have no direct influence on some of these circumstances, but we can influence others.
For example, if we want to change our eating habits – for example, eat less pasta and more potatoes – it will be easier for us if we don’t have any pasta in the house. And if we eat Portuguese rather than Italian. If we no longer want to pile our clothes on the chair in the bedroom and instead get into the habit of putting them in the closet or in the laundry, perhaps the moment has come to dispose of the chair of ruin.
Whenever we can identify external circumstances that encourage undesirable habits in us, we can relieve ourselves and save mental energy by changing the circumstances – and simply adapting ourselves.
2. Letting other people rub off on us.
In the same way that external circumstances influence our behavior, the people we surround ourselves with also influence us. For example, if we spend every other evening with people who like to drink a lot of wine, it will be much more difficult for us to drink little or no alcohol than in the company of people who don’t drink. If we want to get into the habit of reading more, it can help to seek contact with people who already read a lot. In order to find people who might encourage the habits we want, it makes sense to ask ourselves what type of person is likely to exhibit these habits themselves. For example, a person who is cautious about alcohol may be generally health-conscious – and may be found in yoga class. Taking the initiative and venturing into a new social environment can give us the impetus and impetus we need to make a change. And with a little luck, the contacts we make will help us stay on track.
3. Lower your inhibition threshold.
One of the most common reasons why many people fail when trying to break an unhealthy habit and establish a healthy one is because they take on too much and become fixated on a specific goal. For example, if you want to do more exercise, you don’t have to go to the hated gym every other day from scratch. If you want more order in your own household, you don’t have to set yourself the goal of having the entire apartment under control at all times. If we want to successfully and long-term change our behavioral patterns, it is often better to take a path that is inviting to us and that is easy for us to follow. Example of sports: If you like listening to music, you might enjoy a dance workout. Example of order: If you want to become tidier, you can start doing a cleaning or tidying activity more often that has a great happiness effect – for example vacuuming or cleaning the toilet and sink. This way, we won’t look like Pamela Reif overnight and our apartment won’t be as clean as our grandma’s. But we have a good chance to change in a way that we want and that is good for us.
4. Break the old order with a radical little thing.
Sometimes we may not know exactly what we actually want to change about our behavioral patterns and routines. Or where to start. Or that we are so overwhelmed by the whole undertaking that we feel incapable and powerless. In situations like this, it can help to change something small but drastic that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what’s actually bothering us. For example, no longer have breakfast at the dining table, but in the living room. Or stop shopping in the supermarket up the street and instead shop in the one down the street. We could also listen to a song in Spanish every day or read our horoscope. Whether it does anything for us is of secondary importance, the main thing is that we upset the order we are used to – and see that it works. Not all changes are easy for us. However, we can achieve most of them if we really want them. And if we don’t make it harder for ourselves than necessary.
Sources used: Alice Boyes: “Stress-Free Productivity”