The Science of Habits…

As a self-proclaimed geek, my enthusiasm for a topic ignites a journey of exploration. Delving into a new subject means immersing myself in every possible source of information – from the endless troves of Google to the latest podcasts and insightful books that become my constant companions. You'll often hear me excitedly sharing insights from my latest read, eager to discuss and dissect.

It was this thirst for understanding that led me to explore the fascinating world of habits. A few years back, I stumbled upon an audiobook that reshaped my entire perspective: Charles Duhigg's "The Power of Habit." This masterpiece transcended the typical self-help fare, elevating habits into the realm of rigorous science.

For those who find the idea of habits s little abstract, you're in for a treat. Join me on a concise yet enlightening journey into the science of habits, where we will demystify the concept and furnish it with solid, scientific scaffolding. Welcome to a narrative that promises not just to inform but also to transform.

Understanding Habits: A Brief Overview

At its core, a habit is a pattern of behaviour that initially arises from a deliberate choice but, through repetition, becomes an automatic action performed with little to no conscious thought.

It's estimated that nearly half of our daily activities are habitual, a testament to our brain's inclination toward efficiency and resource conservation. Reflect on your daily routines — how many are deliberate? Tying your shoes, brushing your teeth, turning on the light switch when you enter a dark room, pressing the button on your coffee machine in the morning, turning the ignition in your car, driving to work or another familiar setting. These habits are ingrained through frequent repetition, demanding less cognitive effort and decision-making over time.

Beyond the involuntary, we actively cultivate habits that shape our lives: scheduled meals, consistent exercise, regular dog walks, or music practice. Our lives are a collection of such patterns, yet we rarely consider how the habits become programmed into our brains. And why do some habits stick and others not? 

How Habits Take Shape: The Role of Neuroplasticity

Diving into the science of habits is fascinating, especially when we talk about "neuroplasticity." Let's break it down.

Habits form because our brains are efficiency experts. By repeating a behaviour, our brains start to automate it, conserving energy and resources. Picture a neural pathway like a path in a meadow: the more it's used, the more defined it becomes.

One of the brain's most remarkable traits is its neuroplasticity – its inherent capacity to modify its own structure in response to behavioural changes. What's truly extraordinary is that ongoing research validates our brain's potential for change at any age, busting the myth that we can't teach an old dog new tricks.

"Neurons that fire together, wire together." This classic quote encapsulates how repeated actions strengthen connections in our brains. Significant research has shed light on how new behaviours become habits. Initially, neurons activate across the entire sequence of the action. As the behaviour is repeated, neuronal activity starts to focus primarily at the beginning and the end, effectively 'bookending' the behaviour. This pattern of brain activity helps to cement the behaviour into our routines.

Though our habits may feel deeply rooted and resistant to change, the reality is quite dynamic. By adopting new behaviours—effectively changing our routine—we gradually diminish the strength of old neural pathways and forge new ones. This is the very essence of the science behind habit transformation!

Rewards and environment play crucial roles in the development and reinforcement of habits. We naturally gravitate towards habits that reward us, seeking out actions that elicit pleasure. The brain prioritizes behaviours based on the rewards they deliver: activities that trigger a stronger dopamine response—a signal of pleasure or satisfaction—are often repeated over those that produce a lesser effect.

Dopamine serves as the brain's reward signal, guiding us towards actions deemed beneficial by signaling a pleasurable experience worth repeating. Formerly nicknamed the 'hedonistic hormone', it's now more aptly described as the 'action hormone'. The real attraction lies in how dopamine reinforces habits: once an action is associated with a reward, a subsequent encounter with the same scenario prompts a dopamine release, sparking a craving.

But dopamine is a double-edged sword; it not only fosters beneficial habits but can also underpin less advantageous ones. The same process that entices us to eat nourishing food or exercise can, unfortunately, reinforce cravings for unhealthy foods, nicotine, or alcohol once these products become linked with reward in our brains, compelling us to satisfy these cravings.

Remember Pavlov? Just as the bell triggered salivation in his dogs, cues in our environment can trigger cravings for the rewards we anticipate.

The environment's influence on our habits is also significant; it provides contextual cues that can trigger habitual actions. The more we engage our senses and motor skills in a habit, the more deeply it becomes embedded in our psyche. Essentially, habits are built on sensorimotor patterns. Repeating a behaviour in consistent settings solidifies it, making the action second nature. This is the underlying reason why establishing daily routines is so remarkably effective.

Do Habits Compromise Our Free Will?

Consider this: the complexity of our brains necessitates the formation of habits to streamline many of our daily activities, yet this automation doesn’t strip us of the capacity to make conscious choices.

In essence, our behaviours are a blend of automated responses and goal-oriented actions. The former operates like a well-oiled machine, requiring less mental bandwidth and enabling us to reserve cognitive resources for more complex decisions.

Habitual behaviours, or automatic responses, occur without conscious thought. For example, even when driving on a 'left turn only' lane, you might instinctively signal your turn. This is not a conscious decision but an automatic behaviour, a result of the basal ganglia's role in habit formation, guiding you seamlessly from conscious decision-making to automated action.

A key distinction lies between automated and goal-directed actions. Goal-directed actions are intentional, executed with deliberate thought, and do not necessarily draw from past experience. They demand more cognitive resources than automated responses. To illustrate, consider a driving analogy:

You are on your way to work in the car, and you are on “autopilot”, you know when to turn, you know which route to take and there is very little thought that goes into getting from your home to your office. But what happens on the day you’re driving to work and the road on your normal route is closed – you need to re-route. At this point, you move from automation to goal-directed decision making– you must start thinking about which way you’re going – you need to consider your route. 

So, it's clear that the choice isn't between automated or deliberate decision-making; rather, both are essential for our cognitive system to operate efficiently.

Willpower: A Finite Resource?

People often commend me for my willpower, but that's not what I rely on and here's why... Charles Duhigg in "The Power of Habit" likens willpower to a muscle that can fatigue: "Willpower isn't just a skill. It's a muscle, like the muscles in your arms and legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, leaving less power for other tasks."

While we revere willpower, equating it to a superpower, it's anything but inexhaustible. In fact, the pre-frontal cortex, which governs willpower, is also tasked with critical functions like focus, short-term memory, and future planning.

It's crucial to recognise that our willpower competes with numerous other cognitive demands. When overwhelmed or bombarded with information, sustaining willpower becomes increasingly challenging.

Research at Stanford University revealed a striking link between willpower and cognitive load: In an experiment, students were divided into two groups with different memory tasks—one group had to remember two digits, the other seven. Afterward, they were offered a choice between fruit salad and chocolate cake. Astonishingly, those tasked with seven digits were twice as likely to choose the cake.

This suggests that our self-control wanes when our brains are overtaxed, shedding light on why we might falter when fatigued. Explains a lot, right?

So, yes willpower can be powerful but it's not a fail-safe solution for achieving goals that demand regular effort. This challenges the belief that willpower is an inherent trait possessed by only a fortunate few. We often blame our failure to follow through on a new year’s resolution on a lack of this characteristic. But maybe we are just expecting a little too much of the muscle called willpower!!

The "Automated" Aspect of Our Brains

The term "automated" may evoke images of robots, yet our brains are far more sophisticated than any machine. James Clear, the author of "Atomic Habits" likens habits to reliable algorithms we create. Just as we program software, we can instil new habits into our daily lives. These habits, often taken for granted, are what streamline our lives, like the routine of brushing our teeth — an activity we wouldn't want any less automated.

Subconscious behaviours have long been part of the brain's natural operating system. They simplify our lives by handling routine tasks without conscious thought. Intentionally cultivating these automatic actions into habits is a strategy for sustaining healthy and beneficial behaviours.

Acknowledging the Dual Nature of Habits

It's common knowledge that while good habits can enhance our lives, bad habits can be notoriously difficult to break. However, delving into the science of habits unveils a powerful truth: we can change our habits by understanding and manipulating the underlying processes.

In the upcoming final instalment of this blog series, I'll delve into "how to build a habit." We'll explore the "habit loop" — the neurological circuit that is the cornerstone of any habit, as described by Charles Duhigg. By learning the architecture of habit formation, we'll also gain strategies to dismantle unwanted habits, thereby weakening the neural pathways that sustain them and paving the way for positive change.

When Do Habits Serve Us Best?

Goal-directed actions become crucial when we encounter unfamiliar situations requiring a clear decision. These actions are most effective when we're assessing potential outcomes to determine the best course of action. The real test, however, lies in our ability to sift through multiple data sources and focus on what's relevant, setting aside any distractions. That's why we turn down the music in the car when we're lost.

Goal-directed behaviours can offer great advantages as they are flexible and provide us with the ability to navigate complex issues, even when they are unfamiliar (think about those times you’ve had to work out how to get from point A to point B using a tube map in a new city), but with that flexibility comes a heavier cognitive exertion. And this is the greatest risk with goal-directed behaviours, back to that example of the new year’s resolutions – when presented with options, our decisions are impacted by our state of mind – the decision will be based on the desired outcome at that moment in time (e.g. when we are tired, we are more likely to choose the sugary treat). 

Habits are especially useful when we want to embed certain behaviours in a way that leaves little room for thought because they are rigid and less flexible. As I described in my last blog, when I moved my workouts to the morning, over time and with repetition, the process of waking up became my cue to work out. The thought process (“I am going to get up because I want to be healthier and in order to do this, I need to workout regularly”) was removed from the situation. Habits respond to cues, therefore the “thinking” is outsourced and with that you take away the need for self-control or decision-making. 

Achieving our goals typically involves a blend of conscious planning and habitual action. Intriguingly, habits are prompted by cues rather than the end goal itself, and what's remarkable is that even when our cognitive resources are low—perhaps due to exhaustion or distractions—this does not stop the habitual action. By establishing a habit, we delegate the responsibility for action to a part of the brain that operates independently of the goal's visibility, allowing us to work towards our objectives without the constant need for active decision-making.

Habits are instrumental in reaching our goals, particularly when self-control wanes. Unlike isolated achievements, habits don't have a finish line; there's no, “that’s it, I woke up at 6am once or twice – goal achieved!” (and then promptly go back to fighting your self-control and the alarm clock every morning), you continue with the habit you’ve built and maintain a morning routine that better serves your life (more time in the morning can mean less stress, for example). 

From personal experience, I believe that habits are immensely beneficial for mental well-being. They free us from the constant tug-of-war of internal conflicts and the disappointment that comes from unmet goals. Reflect on this: habits can be integrated into any aspect of life where consistent practice is key to reaping ongoing benefits.

Incorporating habits into your daily routine is a game-changer. By anchoring them to environmental cues, you eliminate the constant need for self-negotiation and motivation to engage in activities that improve your life and wellbeing.

Starting a new habit does require an initial effort, yet you might find the process less daunting than expected. Our brains are predisposed to automation, eagerly adopting repeated behaviours. It's often said that it takes just 21 days, or three weeks, to establish a habit, after which the routine actions start being managed by your brain's efficient autopilot.

Are you ready to build some habits in your life? 

Make sure to subscribe to receive a notification for "part two" of the habit series.