Have you ever heard a friend, family member or even a complete stranger refer to their habit as..
‘This is just who I am’!!
‘Wrong’, habits don’t make us who we are, because we are not born with a habit, in reality a habit is something that over time we learn to..
‘Just do’!!
Habits get formed through regular repetition of a routine behaviour, a behaviour which at the time, was a coping mechanism to help us deal with an underlying issue (the root cause), which can be a combination of a distressing situation, past event or trauma, an emotional trigger or an anxious state that helps us get through the day. These unconscious patterns stimulate an intense fixed way of thinking, a willing or a feeling that we acquire, that we feel we need to help us navigate through life, driving the coping mechanism to calm us down. Often these habitual behaviours go unnoticed, becoming something that we automatically just do.
- The Cue, Event, Situation – Anything that triggers the habit behaviour (a bereavement, car accident, relationship breakdown, school/university stress…)
- The Behaviour Routine- Anything that a person associates to the cue, event or situation (eating, smoking, nail biting, thumb sucking…)
- The Reward – The calm, positive feeling that this behaviour gives us.
These 3 stages get stored in our hippocampus (the subconscious part of the brain that holds our inappropriate behaviour patterns) creating a ‘Habit Loop’, over time the event, situation or trigger becomes less and the habit becomes more automatic. An example of a ‘Habit Loop’ would be ‘Your relationship breaks down’ you sit and watch a movie that finishes (cue), you go to the fridge (behaviour routine), and eat a snack (reward) this feeling makes us feel calm with a positive outcome.
Through understanding our brain and emotional triggers, learning NLP techniques, together with hypnotherapy, Habits-Behaviours-Coping Mechanisms-Cravings…. Can all be changed!!
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