5 Scientific Rules for Making & Breaking Habits! | E208

The Science of Making and Breaking Habits

In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the importance of habits in our lives and how they can be changed to achieve our goals. He shares insights from his research on the science of making and breaking habits, with a focus on New Year's resolutions.

The Importance of Habits

• Our lives are a manifestation of our habits.

• Changing a habit can lead to positive changes in life.

• Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them almost automatically.

New Year's Resolutions

• Many people struggle with making and breaking habits when it comes to their New Year's resolutions.

• Most people give up their New Year's resolutions within a month.

• Six months after setting a resolution, 46% of people who made one were still successful in achieving it compared to just 4% who made a similar goal that wasn't a New Year's resolution.

• Only 9% of people who make a New Year's resolution at the start of the year have achieved it by the end of the year.

Making and Breaking Habits

• Studying how habits are made and broken is important for changing behavior.

• Resolution makers are more than 10 times as successful in changing their behavior as people who want to change but don't have a formal resolution.

• This podcast episode provides all the science and information needed to be part of the successful 9% who achieve their New Year's resolutions.

Conclusion

• Habits are important in our lives and changing them can lead to positive changes.

• Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them almost automatically.

• Most people give up their New Year's resolutions within a month, but resolution makers are more than 10 times as successful in changing their behavior as people who want to change but don't have a formal resolution.

The Science of Habits

In this section, the speaker introduces the concept of habits and how they are formed in the brain.

Habits are encoded in the brain forever

• Pathways that fire together frequently and successfully are wired together to save time and energy.

• Once habits are formed, they're encoded in your brain forever.

The habit control center

• The basal ganglia is a golf ball-sized lump of tissue where all our habits are stored.

• It's located deep inside the brain towards the center of the skull.

• This part of the brain is called the habit control center or habit control room.

Experiments with rats

• Researchers from MIT conducted experiments with rats to study their habit control room.

• Rats were put into a T-shaped maze with chocolate hidden somewhere inside it.

• Brain scans showed that when rats wandered through the maze for the first time, their habit control center was working on overdrive.

The Habit Loop

• Scientists now call what happened to rats as they navigated through mazes over and over again a "habit loop."

• There are three steps in a habit loop: cue, routine, reward.

• The cue makes the habit control center activate stored routines; routine is walking through a maze towards chocolate; reward is getting delicious chocolate at end of maze.

The Habit Loop

This section discusses the habit loop and how it works in our brains. It also talks about how habits can be changed or replaced.

The Car Smoking Example

• A prime example of the habit loop is illustrated through a story about smoking in a car.

• The cue, routine, and reward of this habit are explained.

• The speaker's father was able to quit smoking by interrupting his habit loop after reading a book on the topic.

Old Habits Die Hard

• Only 9% of people successfully keep their New Year's resolutions because old habits die hard.

• A study with rats and chocolate illustrates that habits cannot be broken but they can be forgotten and replaced.

• Researchers were able to interfere with the rat's brain to change its habitual behavior, but once the interference was removed, the rat went back to its original habit.

Habits Are Never Forgotten

• Habits are never forgotten; they are always lurking somewhere in our brain.

• Traumatic experiences remain ingrained in our brain because they are useful for us.

• 91% of people fail at forming new habits because habits cannot be broken but can only be replaced.

Introduction

In this section, the speaker discusses why it is difficult to keep New Year's resolutions and how old habits die hard.

Old Habits Die Hard

• Many people fail to keep their New Year's resolutions because old habits are still present.

• Environmental or chemical cues can trigger old habits.

• Interrupting the habit cycle is not enough to sustain a new habit.

Forming New Habits

In this section, the speaker discusses scientific studies on forming new habits and how repetition plays a crucial role in creating new neurological pathways.

Repetition is Key

• Scientific studies show that forming a new habit requires repetition.

• The time it takes to form a new habit varies depending on the person and the habit itself.

• Elliot Berkman, director of the University of Oregon social and effective Neuroscience lab, says breaking unwanted habits also requires practice and repetition.

Five Rules for Making and Breaking Habits

In this section, the speaker provides five rules for making and breaking habits based on scientific evidence.

Rule 1: Stress is Your Puppet Master

• Many bad habits involve dopamine or reward system in our brain.

• Dopamine release creates euphoric feelings that lead to changes in connections between neurons in our brain.

• Highly addictive substances like sugar or tobacco make it harder to break bad habits due to their powerful chemical addiction.

• Our psychological reaction to these substances can be traced back to evolution when meat wasn't salted nor were there sweets or candy.

Rule 2: Start Small with Tiny Habits

• Starting small with tiny habits makes it easier for us to create new neurological pathways without overwhelming ourselves.

• Celebrating small wins helps reinforce positive behavior.

Rule 3: Focus on Identity Change Not Results

• Focusing on identity change rather than results helps us create a new self-image that aligns with our desired habits.

• Changing our beliefs about ourselves can help us sustain new habits.

Rule 4: Make Use of Habit Stacking

• Habit stacking involves attaching a new habit to an existing one.

• This technique makes it easier for us to remember and execute the new habit.

Rule 5: Create an Environment That Supports Your Habits

• Creating an environment that supports your habits involves removing cues that trigger unwanted habits and adding cues that reinforce desired ones.

• Making small changes in your environment can have a big impact on sustaining new habits.

Understanding Glycemic Index

This section discusses the concept of glycemic index and its impact on blood sugar levels.

High vs Low Glycemic Carbohydrates

• Glycemic index is an indicator of how fast blood sugar glucose levels spike after consuming certain foods.

• High glycemic carbohydrates such as cookies, baked goods, pasta, white bread, and white rice are quickly digested while low glycemic carbohydrates which include whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and unprocessed grains are broken down in a much slower way.

Impact on Brain Activity

• Participants who consumed high glycemic milkshakes had spikes in their blood sugar levels which then plummeted four hours later.

• As their blood glucose levels decreased those participants developed excessive hunger and their brain scans demonstrated high levels of activity in a region of the brain associated with addiction.

The Importance of Managing Stress for Habit Formation

This section emphasizes the importance of managing stress to form new habits successfully.

Stress and Willpower

• You're more likely to do the thing you don't want to do when you're stressed out.

• High stress levels act against your willpower as it relates to habits. Stressed people tend to reverse back to bad habits.

Delayed Gratification

• Delayed gratification is the ability to delay an impulse for an immediate reward to receive a more favorable reward at a later time.

• Being able to delay gratification is one of the real keys to achieving any goal we have in life.

• The ability to delay gratification is one of the most important characteristics of success in health, work, and life.

The Marshmallow Experiment

This section discusses the famous marshmallow experiment and its findings on delayed gratification.

The Experiment

• Walter Michelle conducted a series of studies around the concept of delayed gratification.

• During his experiments, Michelle tested hundreds of children between the ages of four and five years old using what is now known as the marshmallow experiment.

• In this experiment, each child was given a choice between one treat right now or two treats when the researcher comes back in later.

Importance of Delayed Gratification

• The ability to delay gratification is one of the most important characteristics of success not just in health or work but also in life.

The Marshmallow Experiment

In this section, the speaker discusses the results of the marshmallow experiment and how it relates to our ability to delay gratification.

Delayed Gratification Leads to Success

• Children who were willing to delay gratification by waiting for a second marshmallow in the experiment had higher exam scores, lower levels of substance abuse, lower likelihoods of childhood obesity, better social skills as reported by their parents and friends, and generally better scores in most areas across their entire lives.

• Kids that didn't reach for the marshmallow and became successful adults also had much better responses to stress. Stress undermines our ability to regulate impulsivity.

• Year over year, the group who waited patiently for the second marshmallow succeeded in every capacity of their lives that they were measuring.

Stress Undermines Our Ability to Delay Gratification

• Stress hijacks the brain and if you're stressed you won't be able to delay gratification.

• Scientists have shown that stress is a key factor preventing us from delaying gratification.

Focus on Simple Stuff That Makes Your Life as Stress-Free as Possible

• At the start of your journey to creating a new habit, focus on simple stuff that makes your life as stress-free as possible.

• Focus on foundations like more sleep, regular exercise, and opt for stress reduction techniques like meditation or massages or walking or running or whatever helps you deregulate de-stress decompress because scientists have shown that alone will increase your willpower and drastically improve your chances of cementing new habits and achieving your big goals in your life.

Importance of Sleep

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of sleep in achieving our goals and creating new habits.

Lack of Sleep Decreases Leptin and Increases Ghrelin

• A lack of sleep decreases leptin which is the hormone that makes you feel full.

• It also boosts something called ghrelin aka the hunger hormone which increases appetite promotes fat storage and causes poor food choices.

Lack of Sleep Reduces Productivity

• A lack of sleep reduces your productivity.

• Additionally, sleep-deprived people in management roles are described as less ethical not as alert not as motivated and not as cheerful.

Lack of Sleep Contributes to Poor Mood and Worse Social Interactions

• A lack of sleep contributes to poor mood markedly worse social interactions in all studies.

Lack of Sleep Tied to Higher Rates of Nicotine Dependency

• For those looking to quit smoking like my dad a lack of sleep is tied to higher rates of nicotine dependency.

Intel V Pro Platform for Hybrid Working Mode

In this section, the speaker introduces Intel V Pro platform for hybrid working mode.

Intel V Pro Built for Business

• Intel V Pro is built for business essentially what this means to me is that it's built for a hybrid working mode perfect for my businesses as we quite literally are working all over the world in offices in co-working spaces in airports.

Seamless Connection and Collaboration with Teams Worldwide

• The vpro platform has been super helpful in allowing me to connect and collaborate seamlessly with all my teams all around the world all of the time. It truly makes hybrid working far easier so

Huel and Health Journey

In this section, the speaker talks about his health journey and how Huel has been an important partner in it.

Importance of Nutrition

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of nutrition in his health journey.

• He mentions that Huel has been a crucial partner in his journey towards better health.

Know Your Cues

In this section, the speaker talks about the importance of knowing your cues when trying to break a habit.

Three Parts of Habits

• Habits have three main parts: cue, routine, and reward.

• Cues are often just a context where you tend to engage in that behavior.

Breaking Bad Habits

• To break a habit, step number one has to be getting crystal clear on exactly what your cues are.

• Knowing your cues and triggers can help you avoid them.

• Capitalizing on a major life change can also help you break or make unhealthy habits.

Changing Your Environment

In this section, the speaker talks about how changing your environment can help you break bad habits.

Environmental Factors

• Our current environment is full of hundreds of different cues and triggers that lead to routines that get us rewards.

• These cues are holding our bad habits in place.

Using Change as an Opportunity

• Changing our environment gives us a chance to break those cues and remove the routine and hopefully the reward.

• The speaker thinks about how he can use a blank canvas as a way to start creating new habits.

Replacing Bad Habits

In this section, the speaker talks about why it's difficult to stop bad habits and suggests focusing on replacing them instead.

Stopping Bad Habits

• Focusing too much on stopping something often makes you rebound eventually and do it more.

• Studies have shown that the more you suppress your thoughts, the more likely you are to think about those things over and over again and therefore revert back to a bad habit.

Replacing Bad Habits

• It's impossibly difficult to actually stop a habit.

• The speaker suggests focusing on replacing bad habits instead of trying to stop them.

The Third Law of Breaking and Making Habits

In this section, the speaker discusses the third law of breaking and making habits. He explains that focusing on stopping a bad habit can lead to rebounding and thinking about it more. Instead, he suggests focusing on replacing the bad habit with a new action-oriented habit.

Focusing on Behavior You Want to Replace It With

• Stressed individuals who try to restrain their thoughts about smoking ultimately end up thinking about smoking even more.

• The car goes where your eyes are looking; don't focus on stopping smoking but instead focus on the behavior you want to replace it with.

• Don't just remove the glass of wine from your life if it's linked to a certain time; double down on hydration and make sure the fridge is stocked with seltzers and cold water.

Positive Action-Oriented Goals

• If you tell yourself not to smoke, your brain still hears "smoke." Conversely, if you tell yourself to chew gum every time you want a cigarette, your brain has a more positive action-oriented goal to focus on.

• My dad replaced cigarettes with miniature lollipops when he quit smoking. This was such a good idea because he didn't just take cigarettes out of his life altogether, which might have caused him to rebound and think about them a lot. He replaced them with a new action-oriented habit for his brain to latch onto.

• Scientists suggest that if something has been linked to a bad habit you're trying to break, don't just remove it from your life. Instead, replace it with something else that is positive.

Forming New Habits Takes Time

• Forming a new habit takes time and commitment. A 2010 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology found it took an average of 66 days for a behavior to change.

• The time it takes to form a new habit varies wildly; for some people, it's 20 days, and in some cases, it was 250 days.

Rule Number Four: You Need a Better Reason to Quit

• Neuroscientists have shown that even if you replace a bad habit with a better one, sometimes the original habit will have a much stronger biological reward than the thing you've substituted it for.

• Having an intrinsic motivation is important because even if you substitute the bad habit with something else, the pathway never disappears.

Importance of Health and Fitness

In this section, the speaker talks about how he realized the importance of health and fitness in his life after a tragedy occurred in 2020. He emphasizes that health is the foundation for everything else in life.

Realization of Health's Importance

• The speaker had an epiphany after seeing how fragile health and life are during the pandemic.

• Health is like a table, everything you care about sits on it. If you remove the table, everything falls apart.

• Therefore, health must be a top priority every day.

Motivation for Healthy Habits

• The speaker's motivation for focusing on his health was not just for superficial reasons like having six-pack abs.

• He admits to having ups and downs but has made healthier choices overall.

• People often need a tragedy or strong reason to make changes in their lives.

Willpower is Not Enough

In this section, the speaker discusses how willpower is not enough to achieve success with habits. He shares an experiment that shows willpower gets exhausted throughout the day.

Fluctuation of Willpower

• Willpower is important for individual success but it fluctuates throughout the day.

• An experiment showed that willpower gets exhausted like muscles in our body when used too much.

Importance of Environment

• Changing your environment can help conserve willpower by reducing temptation.

• Small changes can have a big impact on habit formation and success.

The Depletion of Willpower

In this section, the speaker discusses a study that shows how willpower is a limited resource and can be depleted.

Willpower as a Limited Resource

• People who had eaten cookies with unused willpower looked more relaxed when trying to solve an impossible puzzle.

• Radish eaters with depleted willpower acted differently and vented their frustration while trying to solve the same puzzle.

• Other studies have shown that anytime someone practices restraint, the same effects are seen.

Willpower Depletion Theory

• Willpower isn't just a skill, it's a muscle that gets tired as it's forced to work harder.

• If the science is correct, which the speaker suspects it is, then willpower is a limited resource.

• The more pressure and restrictions put on oneself when trying to make new habits and break old ones, the less chance there is of achieving them.

Unsustainable Goals

• Unsustainable crash diets don't work because they deplete one's willpower reserves.

• Less goals increase the chance of completing all goals because too many big unrealistic sacrifice-centric goals put one's willpower under tremendous unsustainable strain.

The Secret Power of Posing a Question

In this section, the speaker talks about the power of asking questions to create new habits and achieve goals. He introduces the concept of the "Question Behavior Effect" and explains how it can be used to influence behavior change.

Asking Questions for Behavior Change

• Asking people about performing a certain behavior drastically influences whether they do it in the future or not.

• Instead of telling someone else what to do, ask them a simple question that encourages a definitive yes or no answer.

• Direct questions influence people to cheat less, exercise more, volunteer more, and even recycle more.

• The binary choices in a yes or no box don't allow for clarification and excuses which allows us to confront the reality of who we want to be.

Cognitive Dissonance

• Cognitive dissonance is where your ideal self doesn't match up with your real self.

• Saying no would cause mental discomfort so you're likely going to say yes.

• A yes or no question doesn't give any room to create an excuse or deceive yourself. You need to commit one way or the other.

The Power of Asking Yes or No Questions

In this section, Steve discusses the power of asking clear yes or no questions to motivate oneself and others towards achieving their goals.

Asking Clear Yes or No Questions

• Steve suggests asking oneself a clear yes or no question about an area of life that one is struggling in to find motivation.

• When helping someone else, instead of telling them what to do, ask them a clear yes or no question about their behavior.

• It's important to have empathy when asking questions and not lead with judgment.

• Raising awareness through questioning can lead to significant behavior change.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In this section, Steve concludes his podcast by summarizing the six rules for successful habit formation and encouraging listeners to keep trying despite the likelihood of failure.

Set Yourself Up for Success

• Don't let the high likelihood of failure put you off trying. Resolutions are effective.

• Use the six rules discussed in this podcast to set yourself up for success in forming new habits and breaking old ones.

Helping Others

• Share this podcast episode with friends who may be struggling with forming new habits or breaking old ones.

• One idea can have a significant impact on someone's life. Help each other out and have empathy for those who are struggling.

Failing Forward

• Life is all about failing forward. Pick yourself back up again and again using these principles.

• Forming new habits is a never-ending journey. Keep trying until you achieve the life you desire.

We Are All in This Together

• We are all in this together as a society. Help each other out and have empathy for those who are struggling.

• If you were in someone else's shoes, you would be doing exactly the same thing. Lift up those who aren't as fortunate as you.

Final Question

• Steve ends the podcast with a binary question to motivate listeners towards taking action on their goals.

Mercedes-Benz Electric Cars

In this section, the speaker talks about Mercedes-Benz electric cars and their features.

Features of Mercedes EQ Range

• The Mercedes EQ range is at the forefront of the electric car industry.

• The next-generation technology across the range is second to none.

• Intuitive mbux technology with AI learns your behavior and keeps you connected to things that matter to you.

• All Mercedes EQ cars offer exemption from ultra-low emission zone charge and London congestion charge.

Benefits of Owning a Mercedes EQ Car

• Sustainability credentials

• Economic benefits

• General convenience

• High levels of luxury

Call to Action

In this section, the speaker asks viewers to subscribe to his channel and teases a big announcement when they reach 1 million subscribers.

Call to Action

• Viewers are asked to hit the subscribe button.

• The speaker's team has been working for many months on something very big that viewers will be invited to when they reach 1 million subscribers.