Whether you want to lose weight, exercise more, or eat healthier, the much-cited weaker self often makes it challenging to achieve your own goals. It doesn’t have to be because the brain can be reprogrammed at any time. This can create new, healthier habits.
When it comes to bad habits, you’re often faced with a vast opponent – yourself.
But it is possible to break out of old behavior patterns and reprogram the brain – with these tips.
Routine Is Rewarded
The brain tries to use as little energy as possible. Therefore, in difficult situations, it often opts for familiar solutions or forms of behavior, as these can be handled efficiently and routinely.
You can take advantage of this trait by making exercise, healthy eating, or some other good intention a routine.
Learn Consciously
It would help if you never stopped challenging your brain cells – for example, by constantly learning new things even after you have finished school.
If the brain is confronted with a previously unknown task, new neuronal connections are created in the brain to adapt to the new challenges.
When remembering, on the other hand, the memory only falls back on already existing connections.
Define Milestones
To permanently break bad habits, it is essential to develop when something should be done.
To make your successes measurable, clear milestones are essential. According to Hüther, the brain needs a goal that makes it worth replacing familiar routines with new ones.
For example, if you intend to avoid habits such as uncontrolled snacking on the couch or smoking, you should define precise times when you forbid these things.
You should no longer question this decision – it requires some discipline but helps achieve the larger goal.
If, after a while, you realize that reaching into the bag of crisps or the packet of cigarettes is no longer a matter of course but instead causes a brief moment of irritation, you have reached the first milestone.
Mental Training
Staying rational and focused requires mental training not to let cravings or emotions control you.
Instead, every situation should be consciously re-evaluated to retain control. The aim is to deautomatize perception.
For example, when the meal is over, it no longer automatically means dessert. The brain has to learn this by establishing new connections.
New routines, such as a cup of coffee or a short walk, can break old, bad habits.
Make Success A Habit
Even success can – and should – become a habit.
To do this, it is necessary to no longer store these events as a unique sense of achievement but as part of the daily routine to which the brain can get used.
This helps to stop constantly questioning your own goals – and thus to achieve them faster.
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