Bad Habits (How We Can Reprogram Our Brains)

I remember the awe (and fear if I'm being honest) that I felt when first walking into my college psychology class. It was the first classroom I had ever experienced that was based in a group lecture environment. (I think it held around 200 students or so) And instead of the clinical desk / chairs / blackboard setup we found ourselves in a theatre type room with elevated seating directing our focus below. Our professor soon made his entrance,  casually dressed, smoking a cigarette, and carefully positioned his briefcase on the podium in the center of the stage. But the next part of the class was what really grabbed my attention, and it was the topic that our professor wrote on the giant blackboard - "How to Break a Bad Habit". I found his teaching on this subject revolutionary. 

Have you ever wondered why you can’t seem to stop checking your phone nonstop (especially at the dinner table!), or pick at your nails or reach for junk food at bedtime? It's likely you've been forcing yourself through the uncomfortable process of breaking a bad habit. And here is a secret that I had never heard before - its impossible to break a bad habit (or any habit for that matter). The only way to break a bad habit is to replace that habit with a new behavior. The secret to change is to form a new habit to replace the old.

According to an explanation given by Art Markman, Ph.D, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, on “The Psychology Podcast,” our brains are programmed to learn new skills and habits rather than unlearning what’s become common fare. He sums it up like this:

If you’re going to try and eliminate a picked-up behavior, cognitively, it’s far better to fill that hole with something new. If we're talking nail-biting, you must replace the activity with another one. The trick is refocusing your energy your new behavior, in this case reaching for a fun desk toy—thus reprogramming your brain versus the wasted effort of trying to delete your integrated behavior that you wish to change. 

So what behavior do you substitute for your bad habit? That is totally up to you! Be as creative as you desire but I would recommend keeping your substitute behavior simple and easy to access. Remember that your brain is a highly developed computer and the flow of programming regarding habits goes something like this: 

1) Cue

2) Response (also labeled as "Routine")

3) Reward

Changing your cue behavior is very difficult if not impossible. Eliminating the need for a reward is also fruitless. The key lies in your response to your cue and the following gratification of the reward. Instead of your usual response which results in your biting your nails, you start to reach for a spinner or squeeze toy (whatever you select to change your response to this cue) This behavior then moves to the reward that comes with your new response - in this case the pleasure / fun of spinning your desk toy or reaching for your squeeze ball. 

So don't try to swim upstream against your natural programming, replace your bad habit / negative response with your new response which will then be followed by your new reward. Does this take effort on your part? Of course, but the difference is you are now working in the realm of reprogramming versus the futility of trying to delete your existing programming. 

Good luck with your new habit!