Habits. Forming habits in children

We are what we continually do. Perfection, therefore, is not an action, but a habit.
Aristotle.

Habit plays a dominant role in our daily lives - we do a lot automatically only because these actions have been developed by us as a result of repeated repetition. In other words, these are conditioned reflexes that are formed during life.

How habits are acquired

1. Consistency. As you know, a journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step. Daily, constant actions gradually form into a habit. We walk the same route to work, we eat the same foods, we buy clothes in the same stores, etc.
2. Positive emotions. A habit is easier to form if the actions make the person experience positive emotions. The conditions must be comfortable. It makes no difference whether this habit is good or bad. The habit of doing exercises in the morning is caused by the pleasure of physical exercise. And a person explains the habit of smoking as pleasure from the smoking process itself, although later he may want to get rid of it. One might object, but what about the fact that a person is used to going to an unloved job for years without experiencing joy? After all, this is also a habit? The answer is no, it is a forced necessity.

Myths about habits

A habit is formed in 21 days

This is perhaps the most common myth. You may have repeatedly heard that any habit is formed in 3 weeks. This is not entirely true.
In the middle of the last century, plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz discovered an interesting pattern: it took about 3 weeks for the patient to get used to his new face.
In his book “Psychocybernetics,” he described his experience as follows: “As a result of numerous observations, it was established that for a new mental image to be fully formed and replace the old one, it will take at least 21 days.” It is not surprising that the book soon became a bestseller. The idea of changing your life in less than a month seemed attractive to many.
But the followers completely missed the fact that the surgeon meant “at least 21 days,” which in itself implied the likelihood of a much longer period. This is why some habits take months or even years to form.

Habit is forever

Any habit can be broken by forming a new one. For example, even a heavy smoker who smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day can easily quit. To do this, you need to replace the negative habit of smoking with a positive one, say, the habit of leading a healthy lifestyle. Do you understand what we are talking about? Do not rely strictly on willpower, looking with envy at people who smoke, but replace thoughts of smoking with the habit of taking care of your health.

Habits take effort

You can train your willpower as much as you like, forcing yourself to go for a run every morning - one fine day you will break down. You will look for excuses and will definitely find them: either it’s rain outside the window, or you didn’t get enough sleep, or some other reason. And all because you don’t have the most important thing - motivation. Without it, even the most titanic efforts are doomed, but motivation + effort works wonders!
A simple truth follows from this: before you set the task of acquiring any habit, figure out why you need it. You must have clear motivation, a clear idea of the end result, otherwise all your efforts will be in vain.

Forming a habit is an art that takes more than a month to learn. And I can guarantee you that if you apply these tips to any habit in your life, you will succeed.

I once tried to instill in myself the healthy habit of writing three pages of text every morning, immediately after I woke up. It was great, because having visited western Ukraine, I simply could not help but write about housing in the Carpathians, mountains and recreation. And in the end, I didn’t notice how I began to write every day on different topics. Then I got into the habit of eating healthy (meaning I only eat when I'm hungry, never snack, try to eat slowly, etc.). Then I started doing exercises and self-massage every morning. Wake up early. And it all worked out (but, of course, not right away). The question is not whether you are predisposed to this habit or not.

The question is HOW you form a good habit, not WHAT SPECIFIC one. After all, introducing a habit into life is daily painstaking work, and, in a way, an art. An art that takes more than one month to learn. And I can guarantee you that if you apply the tips below to any habit in your life, you will succeed. Well, is it time to run in the morning?

How to form a good habit

Pick just one habit. Don't try to implement everything at once. Start running. When one or two weeks have passed and you notice that this is easy for you, add another habit. For example, waking up early. Start the next habit only after you have firmly established the previous one.
Be kind to yourself. Believe me, if you want to lift weights (popularly called bodybuilding) every day for an hour, you will give up very quickly. If you start with 10 minutes and gradually increase the duration of your sessions, you will achieve success. Better to take a number that will NEVER be burdensome to you from the very beginning. Sometimes even 6-7 minutes of exercise a day seems impossible.
Record your results. Keep a habit chart in electronic or paper form. Write a habit in your diary, and opposite it write down the days of the week or the days of the month. As soon as you complete the habit, cross out that day.
Don't allow yourself “little weaknesses.” Smokers, I think, will understand me. When you quit smoking, sometimes you passionately want to light “one more cigarette.” And this one more cigarette is just a trigger, after which you will smoke a few more packs (okay, if not blocks). The same goes for good habits. If you want to eat healthy food, but periodically allow yourself a lot of sweets, cola and other junk food, then very soon everything will return to normal.
Allow yourself “little gifts.” Don’t confuse “gifts” and “weaknesses.” With gifts you should indulge your “inner child” or “inner artist”. Buy yourself something that will be associated with your new habit and that will make you happy. If you've been running in the morning for a month straight, buy yourself some new running shoes that make you feel cool. If you write 5 pages a day, get a new pen. Make yourself happy with the little things.
Count how many days you maintain the habit. If you skip a habit two days in a row or two times in one week, start counting again. Inertia tends to inertia. The more days you miss at once, the harder it will be for you to get back into the habit. If you missed only one day in a week, simply do not include the missed day in the total count, but consider that the whole week was successful.
Give yourself a day off. Select Sunday or any other day as a day off. If you have followed a habit religiously for 6 days in a row, you can safely cross off one or two habits on Sunday as if you had already done them. And do it. Or don't. Doesn't matter. Give yourself a break and do whatever you want (but not what will interfere with the further formation of the habit). Take a walk in nature. Chat with friends. Sleep all day. This will help you recharge your batteries and strength for the next week.
Keep time and quantity records. Write down how much time per day you devote to the habit. For example: running - 20 minutes, meditation - 12 minutes. Keep quantitative records, if possible. For example, the number of push-ups, squats, and so on.
Enjoy the process. Enjoy what you do. Be happy with what you can do. Don't listen to ANYONE. If someone tells you that you “should” run in the morning, but the very idea of running in the morning disgusts you, feel free to refuse. It may not be your thing. If a habit doesn’t make you happy either now or in the future, then why do you need it?

How long does it take to form a habit?

And lastly, how long does it take to form a habit? Scientists talk about the number 21. But don't believe them. Trust your body. If you already automatically perform a certain action yourself, then you have already formed a habit. It doesn't matter whether you followed it for 28 or 60 days. Don't stop until you see that it has truly become habitual and natural for you.

Habits can be professional and everyday, social and individual, useful and harmful, arising gradually or almost instantly. According to another division, habits are physical, emotional and behavioral. Cm. →

Habit formation: habituation

A habit is the result of repetition and is usually formed on the 21st day (with daily repetition). Will a habit become a character trait? Cm. →

How to unlearn bad habits?

A bad habit can be smoking, and the habit of stamping one’s foot dissatisfied when something doesn’t work out, doesn’t work out, and the habit Revenge. Methods for weaning yourself from bad habits:

The choice depends on many factors, including age (the ability to appeal to reason), the ability to work on oneself, and whether the bad habit is strong. Until the habit is established, it is possible (and even better) not to pay attention to it, switching yourself or someone else to others affairs, activities, hobbies. If the habit is already established, distraction does not help.

For more details see:

In human life habits play a very important role: beneficial - favorable, harmful - unfavorable. How the beneficial ones compare with the harmful ones largely depends happiness and the well-being of the individual.

As noted by K.D. Ushinsky, “education, which fully appreciates the importance of habits and skills and builds its knowledge on them, builds it firmly. Only habit opens up the opportunity for the educator to introduce one or another of his principles into the very character the pupil, into his nervous system, into his nature.”

In the life of each of us, much is determined precisely by the character of our habits: personality orientation, character and inclinations, taste preferences, demeanor, etc. . As already said, behavior consists of action, and action - from individual movements that have a certain sequence (combination) and are aimed at some object, always with the goal of mastering it.

Control of movement presupposes its arbitrary beginning and end, changes in tempo, and the amount of effort expended. The movement itself is carried out thanks to an automatic mechanism given by nature in the form of a certain structure and properties of the motor apparatus. As a result of repeated repetition of individual movements, special control is no longer required for their implementation, and they are carried out automatically, that is, without the participation of consciousness. These automated systems of subject-oriented actions are called skills.

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Through the acquisition of skills individual becomes capable of performing increasingly complex actions, solving increasingly complex motor tasks, and interacting with objects in the environment at an increasingly higher level. At the same time, control over the “flow” of actions is gradually replaced by their planning. Without acquiring skills, it would be impossible to learn or work or take care of oneself in everyday life. This is explained by the fact that the skill unloads consciousness from the need to control each individual movement or simple action and allows you to operate with increasingly complex and advanced complexes.

The process of skill development occurs daily, continuously and largely independently.

Any adult individual has many motor skills, and all of them are acquired in the process of individual development - by selecting the necessary, appropriate movements from the total number possible for a person, as well as their subsequent improvement and consolidation

The development of the movement system is closely related to the development of the psyche. Images of elements of the surrounding world, their comparison and relationships are the basis of thinking. Forming in the brain, they become elements of thought. Transfer attention the individual from one image to another, from the images themselves to the connections between them constitutes the essence of the elementary movement of thought, and it is an elementary mental action. Automating this process means developing thinking skills.

A skill is a skill or a set of skills that are clearly correlated with the solution of a motor task, often by making changes in objects in the surrounding world. If repetition of actions is necessary to develop a skill, then to demonstrate a skill this is not always necessary: a skill sometimes arises situationally, when some significant goal appears, thanks to a combination of skills that the individual already has. A skill is also an individual’s ability to combine skills, subordinating a certain number of effective actions (skills) to solving a large-scale task.

Habits are formed in the same way as skills, by repeating certain movements and actions, but they represent a special phenomenon of the psyche and behavior. A habit is an action that becomes obligatory for an individual, not from the point of view of his duties to anyone, but as if his duty to himself. Just like a living being who has developed conditioned reflex, cannot fail to perform a corresponding action in the presence of appropriate conditions, and a habit: an individual cannot fail to perform this or that action when a certain situation (a set of conditions or a single significant factor).

If an individual does not perform a habitual action, he feels a certain anxiety and psychological discomfort.

The concept of habit implies not only the ability of an individual to perform a certain action, but also need do it. And forming a habit means not so much the emergence of a new skill, but the emergence of an impulse to constantly carry out the corresponding sequence of movements or actions.

Observations show that a habit can develop before a skill is fully formed, and then improving the skill becomes difficult: if the development of a skill is a rather flexible process, then the habit is formed by the type of fixation, hardening of a certain sequence of movements; and its main property (along with obligatory nature) is conservatism: habits are able to “defend” themselves in the psyche and precisely because of this, turn into “second nature” of the individual. And skills can be improved as long as you like until they become a lasting habit.

Thus, the concept of habit means: - obligatory action (in a given situation); - priority of this action over others (in this situation); - clear definition of one or another action (in a particular situation).

The difference between a skill and a habit is characteristic: although both the first and the second are developed by repeating certain movements (actions), the individual’s skills are, as it were, in reserve, forming his motor potential. Habit actively reminds itself of itself as soon as a corresponding situation arises, and sometimes even outside the situation. Habit, unlike skill, has a motivating force, and this does not always lead to good things.

To turn an action into a habit, it is important to carry it out regularly and to include it as a permanent element in the individual’s system of actions. An action itself can rarely become habitual if it is carried out outside the system of actions in which it is included as an element. Or if its implementation is not based on any need initially inherent in nature. For example, habits associated with eating are easily formed: the very need for food prompts a person to constantly implement the necessary system of actions. And therefore, in this case, the habit of eating in a certain way is a way of realizing an initially existing impulse. In other words, the habit of eating in a certain way becomes a secondary need based on needs primary - in food.

So, a habit is a sequence of interconnected conditioned reflex movements that form a certain action, which is also activated conditionally in a certain situation and serves to solve one or another standard task.

A habit can also be a sequence of elementary actions that form a more complex action that can solve a more complex, but also standard task - this is a more complex habit. A habit is always developed for a specific situation.

Because a conditioned reflex is simpler than a habit, it is said to be “developed,” whereas a habit is “formed” or “composed” (of several parts).

Both in the case of a conditioned reflex and in the case of a habit, the repetition of a combination of certain factors is important: the conditioned reflex, as the most important basis of behavior and life support, cannot and should not be developed by random, insignificant factors; nature, as it were, tests itself. The repetition of a combination means (for nature itself!) its non-randomness, and therefore its possible vital importance. But, since a habit is a combination of several conditioned reflexes, it takes longer to develop than a regular conditioned reflex. In addition, a conditioned reflex is developed in response to any one absolutely significant factor, while a habit is developed in response to a situation plus some incentive to action, which is given to him by adults when forming a child’s habits. If for a conditioned reflex the reinforcer is a life benefit directly embedded in the unconditional reinforcer - instinct, then for a habit this benefit can be mediated by the situation, the behavior of others, their approval or disapproval.

Habits can be situational (more often) and extra-situational (less often). Situational habits find their place under certain conditions, manifest themselves in certain situations, but at the same time they can become a reflection and expression of a person’s individual traits, forming his integral characteristics. It is the combination of habitual actions that determines such a property of an individual as his manners: manner of speaking, manner of holding himself, manner of communicating, character of gait.

When talking about the awareness or unconsciousness of conditioned reflexes and habits, one must keep in mind that the individual does not control their development unless those around him specifically pay his attention to it. He can learn about the presence or absence of this or that conditioned reflex or habit either from the words of those around him who see him from the outside, or from the results of his actions. If they satisfy him, the individual continues to use them unconsciously; if they do not satisfy him, then, finding out the reasons for this dissatisfaction, he gradually comes to analyze the characteristics of his behavior. And such clarification of the reasons for failure is akin to objectification, but is carried out not during the process, but after its completion. At the same time, mastery of a skill often occurs under the control of consciousness, and the individual is able to track the stages of this mastery.

Manners are a combination of habits that shape the behavioral appearance of an individual.

Another aspect of habits is preferences; they depend both on the individual characteristics of the body and on the availability of certain items.

So, a habit is a phenomenon of a conditioned reflex nature, but more complex, since it combines a certain number of conditioned reflex actions (movements) and is also activated conditionally. A habit also has the most important properties of a conditioned reflex: the obligatory nature (or increased probability) of one or another action in a given situation, the preference (choice) of this particular action (or movement) from the entire number that the individual has, the signaling nature of the beginning of the action - namely in response to some trigger in the environment.

Habit has the properties of a dominant and a conditioned reflex. But, unlike a developed extra-situational dominant, a habit is a situational dominant; a habit is tied to a situation and only gradually (and not all habits) acquires the property of being non-situational.

Habit- this is a kind of installation psyche for a certain action: as soon as this situation arises, the action is performed. In other words, a habit, like an attitude, has the ability to wait for the right moment. But a developed attitude subjugates many situations, just as a habit subjugates many conditioned reflexes: there is an analogy here. An individual with a habit seems to be aimed at a certain action and will definitely perform it as soon as the opportunity arises. But, as a rule, a habit does not subjugate various situations, as an attitude does, but is subject to their flow and change.

A significant difference between habits and attitudes and dominants is the external manifestation (of habits): they are initially demonstrative, while the individual’s attitudes and dominants remain hidden not only for others, but also for himself.

The presence of habits gives rise to the individual’s confidence in his behavior, since he even unconsciously “knows” what needs to be done in a given situation, without (at times) painful thoughts. A habit, having already been developed, carries with it the experience of an activity that is subjectively successful for the individual: without this, it would not have become established. Therefore, a habit is a form of accumulation by an individual of life experience.

The set of habits forms an individual’s motor stereotype - a constant and stable combination of actions that occupies a significant place in the structure of his activity.

Habits relieve stress attention and the consciousness of the individual, allowing him to direct them to more significant, less elementary, more significant objects, processes, phenomena of the environment.

The totality and quality of habits determines the cultural appearance of an individual and the degree of his civilization. This especially applies to self-service habits and the nature of his preferences in one or another area of the environment.

Combinations of habits can form “behavioral modules.” For example, the behavioral module “leave the house” includes: turn off the lights, check the windows, lock the door. The individual usually does this automatically. But, if he has any anxiety, he begins to decompose this module into separate actions and checks each of them separately, and more than once. Anxiety manifests itself precisely in this action, related to objectification - to check all the components of the behavioral module.

Habit is closely related to ritual - a special, highly valuable sequence of actions carried out in a given situation.

Performing habitual actions allows the individual to constantly receive satisfaction from what has been achieved: small, but reliable, because other activity does not always bring it, and this causes mental stress.

Habits allow you to find meaning in the accessible and everyday and ease the problem of finding the “meaning of life”: in habitual actions, meaning is automatically inherent. And although this is not such a sublime meaning, it is a vital and reliable meaning. After all, habit is a mechanism for imparting significance to previously indifferent, unprompted actions, a way of channeling an individual’s vital activity.

During the development of a child, habits are formed earlier than such mental new formations as level of aspiration, the overestimation of which often brings a lot of trouble to the individual. A habit is our constant connection with childhood, with the period when it was formed. It is carried by an individual throughout his entire life, serving as one of the essential mechanisms of generational continuity.

Habit is a reliable way of adapting an individual to the conditions of existence: it makes life easier by reducing the level of stress, both physical (due to the “practice” of actions) and mental due to the absence of the need to carry out the processes of motivation, goal-setting and meaning-formation for each action.

We present to your attention 36 lessons that will help you give up bad habits and form useful ones.

We present to your attention 36 lessons that will help you give up bad habits and form useful ones.
Small changes quickly become the norm. Imagine you find yourself in another country. An unfamiliar language, unusual food, strangers around. It is very difficult to adapt to this right away. But you quickly get used to small changes; they almost imperceptibly and “painlessly” become the norm.

It's easier to start small. Dramatic changes require a lot of strength (constant self-control). Therefore, it is better to start small. So, the desire to develop the habit of going to the gym may remain an idea. But it will be easier to implement if you start with several exercises a day.

Small changes are easier to stick to. By setting yourself “global” goals (exercise every day for at least 30 minutes), you may zealously strive for them... at first. But as daily fatigue accumulates, enthusiasm will subside.

Habits are driven by triggers.

A trigger is a set of conditions that initiate the execution of an action. For example, some people, when they come to work, turn on the computer first and then automatically check their email. In this case, turning on the computer is a trigger, and checking email is a habit. It turns out something like a “reflex” - I turned on the computer, which means I need to check my email.

Habits with inconsistent or multiple triggers are stronger. For example, smoking is usually provoked by several triggers at once (stress, alcohol, desire to “socialize”). It's difficult to break this habit. It's also not easy not to get angry at criticism. The latter is a fickle trigger; you don’t know at what moment it will “catch” you.

First, accustom yourself to simple rituals. Start with innovations that only take a few minutes a day and that you enjoy (for example, starting a healthy eating habit could be as simple as drinking freshly squeezed juice in the morning). Simple rituals train the ability to follow habits and increase self-confidence.

Trust in yourself. If a person promises something and doesn't deliver, will this undermine your trust in him? Surely yes. And if a person always keeps his word, does your respect for him increase? Same with promises to yourself. If you “break down”, vowing not to eat after 18 hours, the limit of trust in yourself gradually melts away. And vice versa: the more often you prove that you are able to keep your promises to yourself, the greater the level of “self-confidence” and the chance of sticking to difficult habits.

Water wears away stones. We want everything at once. Therefore, people often introduce 10 new habits into their daily routine, believing that this way life will quickly become better. But in the end, they cannot control all the innovations and, having failed at one, abandon the rest. It is better to change your life a little bit, without rushing, but after time, you will see what global changes these steps have led to.

It doesn't matter what to change first. Life is not a sprint. Life is a marathon. Remember this when you puzzle over the dilemma: what is more important: running in the morning or quitting smoking. It really doesn't matter which habit you start with. Eventually you will get to each of them. But you should start with the one that causes less resistance.

Energy and sleep. The first is directly proportional to the second. If you don't get enough sleep, you don't have enough energy to follow your scheduled rituals. The more tired you are, the more often you will “slack” (I had a very difficult day - today I don’t need to learn new foreign words).

Disruption of routine = “disruption.” People most often refuse to follow certain habits on weekends, during vacations, when guests suddenly arrive. In a word, when their usual daily routine collapses. This is either due to the fact that the trigger that triggers the mechanism of following the habit does not work (for example, you meditate after morning coffee, and at a party where you find yourself, tea is preferred to this drink); or because, due to a change in regime, there is no time/energy to follow it (on vacation you walked around 17 sights, do you still need to do push-ups after that?).

Forewarned is forearmed. Another common reason for not following certain habits is the inability to predict the difficulties that will arise along the way. For example, you decide to eat less sweets and go on a visit. You must anticipate that there will be many temptations on the table and take care of food for yourself. Otherwise, a “failure” is almost inevitable.

Watch your thoughts. We all talk to ourselves. This happens unconsciously, and that's normal. It’s bad if you have negative thoughts spinning in your head: “I can’t”, “this is too difficult”, “why am I limiting myself in something?” etc. Watch what you say to yourself, and if you catch yourself in panicky moods, drive them away.

Look at the root, do not follow impulses. The next time you want to smoke, or have a late-night snack, or get ready for a workout, try not to immediately reach for the lighter or the refrigerator handle. Stop and think about what provoked this desire? Is that true or is it as strong as it seems? By taking a break and delving into yourself, it will be easier for you to resist temptation.

Motivation. Compare: “I don’t eat fatty foods to lose weight” and “I don’t eat fatty foods to lose weight and live a long, healthy life.” Which of these motives is stronger, in your opinion? If a person just wants to lose weight (and has no problems in his personal life or career), it will be difficult for him to follow dietary habits. But if he knows that his health and longevity depend on it, his motivation will be much more powerful. State your motivation and write it down on paper. Re-read whenever temptation seizes you.

Feedback. What's easier: lying on the couch or playing sports? Of course the first one. Therefore, this activity causes positive feedback inside. To successfully follow a habit, you need to generate positive feedback on it. Responsibility will help with this. For example, invite a friend to run together (set a meeting - make a commitment). At the same time, you will enjoy the communication and, as a result, positive feedback from completing the habit.

Competition is a catalyst for progress. Let your friends catch you “weakly.” Is it bad to not eat sugar for a whole week? Is it bad to go to the gym for 6 weeks? By challenging someone (or, in truth, yourself), it’s easier to train yourself to follow a particular habit. In addition, competitions also encourage responsibility and positive feedback (see previous point).

No favors. “One cake won’t do anything” - following the logic of “just once and no more,” you practically capitulate to your weaknesses. After “one time” there will be another, and a third, and... By making exceptions, you form the mindset that indulgences are normal (not every day, right?!). But in reality, it undermines self-confidence.

Habit is a reward, not a punishment. Do not perceive the introduction of new, positive habits as hard work. If you treat training like it's a chore, you'll get negative feedback and won't last long. But if you find a way to enjoy activities (for example, a sport that you really enjoy), the feedback will be positive. Change your attitude towards habits, because they are a reward, not a punishment.

The more new habits you have at the same time, the higher the likelihood of failing. Conduct an experiment: try introducing 5 new habits into your life at once. Check how long you last. Following one new ritual is much easier than following several at once. It’s more rational to focus on one habit, and when its implementation becomes automatic, move on to the next one.

Distractions are inevitable. Like everything new, at first following a particular habit is inspiring - you are full of energy. But sooner or later self-control falls. You don't have to think about habits 24 hours a day, you just need to think about them once a day. Deviations from the intended goal are inevitable, but if you have missed training several times, you should not quit the sport. Review your motivation and refocus on your goal.

Keep a blog. Publicity is a great discipline. If you announce on a blog or social media that you are on a diet and promise to post photos every two weeks while standing on the scale, you will have responsibility. After all, who wants to lose face in front of their friends?

Learn from mistakes. Failures are inevitable, and you need to be able to learn from them. Each person is individual. What works for some may not work at all for others. And if you don’t try, you won’t know which methods are effective for you. Mistakes are a way to learn about yourself. When you make mistakes, you learn something new, which means you become a better person.

Get support. Who do you go to when you're having a hard time? Whose opinion is important to you? The support of these people is very important. Spouse, best friend, work colleague - someone should definitely tell you at the moment when you are ready to tell everything to hell: “Hold on! You will succeed!”

Don't limit yourself. You can often hear from people: “I can’t give up sugar!”, “I can’t live without meat!” And they really can't... as long as they continue to think like that. There's really nothing you can't do. But if you continue to believe that your life depends on sweets, you really won't be able to give up cakes.

Environment. She should help you. Have you decided to give up sweets? Don't buy it. And tell your loved ones not to do this. Ask your friends not to smoke in front of you if you are struggling with this harmful habit. You must create an environment that will help you change.

Minimize entry barriers. Don't allow yourself to procrastinate. When going for a run, you can think about how difficult it will be, how long it will take, how cold it will be... Or you can just lace up your sneakers and run. Get rid of mental barriers. To meditate, you just need to take a comfortable position; to write, open a text editor.

Plan for forced breaks. There are situations when it is impossible to follow the plan. For example, you are going on vacation to the countryside and there is no swimming pool there, where you have been trying to go every day for the past months. OK. But you shouldn't take this as a reason to quit. Clearly define a date when you can return to this habit. And return to her when that day comes.

Habits depend on the situation. As already mentioned, the implementation of habits is triggered by triggers, which are often influenced by the environment. Life is fast and dynamic. If your trigger for doing yoga is a shower, then a phone call when you just got out of the bathroom can unsettle you and switch you to other things. You need to be prepared for this.

Best the enemy of the good. Paradoxically, bad habits are often necessary for us. For some, a cigarette is a way to relieve stress, and if you lose this “antidepressant,” you will begin to lash out at your loved ones. It is important to understand what causes the bad habit and try to find a healthier alternative to it.

Be kind to yourself. Being angry with yourself, blaming yourself when things don’t work out doesn’t help. At all. Don’t forget to praise yourself even for micro-successes and regularly remind yourself that you are walking along a thorny road called “struggle”, trying to become happier, and this is oh how difficult it is.

Perfectionism is evil. People often strive for perfection, but this is a spoke in the wheel of progress. If you find yourself not following a particular habit because the circumstances are not ideal (not meditating because there is no suitable music), forget about perfectionism and just do what you have to do. Better little and bad than nothing.

Tandem. Together (with a friend, colleague) it is much easier to start a business or stick to certain habits. So, if you are planning to go on a diet, invite your spouse to join. You'll be surprised how much easier things will be.

Changing habits is a way of self-discovery. Habits are not only a way to change your life, but also a tool for self-knowledge. As you work to establish a habit in your life, you will learn a lot about yourself. What motivates you, how rational you are, what internal and external rewards “work” for you, etc. In just a few months of changing your habits, you will learn more about yourself than you did 10 years earlier. Thus, changing habits is beneficial, whether you succeed or not.

What most often prevents a person from becoming successful and rich? Brown University experts are sure: these are bad habits. This conclusion was made after their 5-year study. No, we are not talking about addiction to tobacco, alcohol and junk food, but about habits that harm personal effectiveness.

According to the findings of scientists, these include:

Various kinds of part-time jobs (the habit of not investing money, but looking for additional income is the lot of poor people).
Gambling and other gambling (thirst for “easy” money that will “fall out of nowhere”).
Reading exclusively fiction (rich and successful people read manuals and monographs that help improve their professional level).
The habit of taking out loans (rich people are accustomed to relying on the resources they have, refusing to buy or purchasing things at a more reasonable price).
Lack of budget planning (84% of rich people organize their financial affairs, while among the poor this figure is 20%).
Lack of a “financial cushion” (the rich regularly save at least a small amount of money, unlike the poor, who are accustomed to living “paycheck to paycheck”).

Our whole life consists of habits - certain well-formed actions, established ways of behavior in certain circumstances. Every small habit, even if it seems insignificant, can bring a person closer to his dream or, on the contrary, move him away from it.

By developing the habit of not smoking in the morning on an empty stomach or after a meal, you will bring your goal of “becoming healthy” a little closer; By purchasing products not spontaneously, but according to a pre-compiled list, you are taking the first steps towards the goal of “learning to save.”

By the way, psychologists advise not to wage an irreconcilable fight against bad habits, but to focus specifically on mastering new ways of behavior that are useful for you. By forming and consolidating new habits, you can more easily achieve your goals.

Forming Good Habits: Six Important Factors

The formation of a new way of behavior does not happen immediately. To do this, you need to go through six steps, each of which is important in its own way.

Analyze your existing habits and understand what exactly needs to be changed in your behavior.
Make sure that the new way of behavior will help you cope with the tasks.
It is clear and precise to formulate exactly what habit it is desirable to acquire.
Determine which existing modes of behavior will contribute to the formation of a new one, and which ones will interfere.
Publicly announce your intention to form a new habit.
Find a suitable company: several or at least one like-minded person.

Let's look at each stage in a little more detail.

Stage 1

Over the course of several days (3-5 will be enough), observe yourself and analyze your own habits, both useful and not so useful. Ask yourself questions:

- Why do I do it this way?

- Can this be done differently?

For example, when you are going to have lunch, sitting comfortably in front of the monitor, stop and separate these actions. If you are hungry, eat in the kitchen and then start browsing the sites.

Stage 2

Think about how exactly your new habit will help you achieve your goal. Have you stopped eating flour and sweets? Have you started jogging in the morning and given up cigarettes? This will help you become healthier and more beautiful.

As you begin to develop a new way of behavior, always keep in mind the end result you want to achieve. Ask yourself, “How will my new habit help me achieve what I want?” Users who set goals on the SmartProgress resource work on developing a wide variety of habits: they write at least 10 pages of a new book every day, regularly perform a set of exercises, and devote half an hour a day to learning a foreign language or Java programming. And they write reports on their successes, which in itself is also a very useful habit.

Stage 3

Precise formulation helps you clearly understand what exactly you want to achieve and what skill to develop. For example, the phrase “Do exercises every day” is too vague. It is better to formulate this way: “Every day from 7.00 to 7.30 do a set of exercises

for stretching/strengthening a specific muscle group/general development.”

It is believed that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, but this is an average. The more complex and unusual a new way of behavior is, the longer it will take for it to become natural and necessary. So, you can train yourself to start the morning with a glass of warm water with lemon in 21 days, but it may take two or three months to form the habit of proper nutrition or daily exercise.

Stage 4

Each mode of behavior does not exist in isolation, but in conjunction with others. Determine which already fully formed habits will help you organically integrate the new procedure into the overall picture of your behavior. For example, you decide to create a menu for the week. This useful habit is reinforcing for many others:

spend money on groceries sparingly;
prepare healthy and tasty food yourself;
follow the principles of proper nutrition;
rational use of available products;
calculate your budget for the week, etc.

Stage 5

By publicly declaring your intention to form a healthy habit, you gain additional incentive that will not allow you to give up at the first difficulties and inconveniences. You can make a public commitment by simply telling numerous friends and acquaintances about it, publishing a post on a page on a social network, on your favorite forum.

Or you can use the SmartProgress service, which has a special function - “word price”. By making a commitment, you risk a certain amount, which is deposited into your account and “frozen.” If you didn't keep this promise, you lost your money! This kind of “whip” is extremely effective.

Stage 6

Like-minded people who are ready to enthusiastically support your idea and start forming a new habit “for company” are great. You want to skip a workout, but a friend is already calling you and making an appointment to go to the gym. You want to eat a piece of cake, but your friend has already surpassed you in terms of the number of kilograms lost. Developing new habits together is more fun, faster, and more effective: mutual support, responsibility to each other, and a healthy spirit of competition help.

A new way of behavior will become firmly established in your life if

- you clearly understand why you need this;

- it does not contradict the usual way of life, it is approved and supported by the environment;

- the results from its “implementation” quickly become noticeable and tangible (you become slimmer, feel better after quitting smoking, you start working faster and have time to do more).

Remember that every new good habit is a step towards your success.