Researchers say build healthy habits by tying it to an existing one

We’re all creatures of habit. We tend to wake up at the same time each day, brush our teeth, have morning coffee and commute to work, following the same patterns every day.

So why is it so hard to form new healthy habits?

It's not about willpower, good habits happen when we set ourselves up for success.

Behavioral scientists who study habit formation say that many of us try to create healthy habits the wrong way. We make bold resolutions to start exercising or lose weight, for example, without taking the steps needed to set ourselves up for success.

Here are some tips, backed by research, for forming new healthy habits.

STACK YOUR HABITS: The best way to form a new habit is to tie it to an existing habit, experts say. Look for patterns in your day and think about how you can use existing habits to create new, positive ones.

For many of us, our morning routine is our strongest routine, so that’s a great place to stack on a new habit. A morning cup of a coffee, for example, can create a great opportunity to start a new one-minute meditation practice. Or, while you are brushing your teeth, you might choose to do squats or stand on one foot to practice balance.

Many of us fall into end-of-the-day patterns as well. Do you tend to flop on the couch after work and turn on the TV? That might be a good time to do a single daily yoga pose.

START SMALL: B.J. Fogg, a Stanford University researcher and author of the book Tiny Habits, notes that big behavior changes require a high level of motivation that often can’t be sustained. He suggests starting with tiny habits to make the new habit as easy as possible in the beginning. Taking a daily short walk, for example, could be the beginning of an exercise habit. Or, putting an apple in your bag every day could lead to better eating habits.

In his own life, Fogg wanted to start a daily pushup habit. He started with just two pushups a day and, to make the habit stick, tied his pushups to a daily habit: going to the bathroom. He began by, after a bathroom trip, dropping and doing two pushups. Now he has a habit of 40 to 80 pushups a day.

DO IT EVERY DAY: British researchers studied how people form habits in the real world, asking participants to choose a simple habit they wanted to form, like drinking water at lunch or taking a walk before dinner. The study, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, showed that the amount of time it took for the task to become automatic – a habit – ranged from 18 to 254 days. The median time was 66 days!

The lesson is that habits take a long time to create, but they form faster when we do them more often, so start with something reasonable that is really easy to do. You are more likely to stick with an exercise habit if you do some small exercise – jumping jacks, a yoga pose, a brisk walk – every day, rather than trying to get to the gym three days a week. Once the daily exercise becomes a habit, you can explore new, more intense forms of exercise.

MAKE IT EASY: Habit researchers know we are more likely to form new habits when we clear away the obstacles that stand in our way. Packing your gym back and leaving it by the door is one example of this. Wendy Wood, a research psychologist at the University of Southern California, says she began sleeping in her running clothes to make it easier to roll out of bed in the morning, slip on her running shoes and run. Choosing an exercise that doesn’t require you to leave the house – like situps or jumping jacks – is another way to form an easy exercise habit.

Wood calls the forces that get in the way of good habits “friction.” In one study, researchers changed the timing of elevator doors so that workers had to wait nearly half a minute for the doors to close. (Normally the doors closed after 10 seconds.) It was just enough of a delay that it convinced many people that taking the stairs was easier than waiting for the elevator. “It shows how sensitive we are to small friction in our environment,” said Wood. “Just slowing down the elevator got people to take the stairs, and they stuck with it even after the elevator went back to normal timing.”

Wood notes that marketers are already experts in reducing friction, inducing us to spend more, for example, or order more food. That’s why Amazon has a “one-click” button and fast-food companies make it easy to supersize. “We’re just very influenced by how things are organized around us in ways that marketers understand and are exploiting, but people don’t exploit and understand in their own lives,” she said.

REWARD YOURSELF: Rewards are an important part of habit formation. When we brush our teeth, the reward is immediate – a minty fresh mouth. But some rewards – like weight loss or the physical changes from exercise – take longer to show up. That’s why it helps to build in some immediate rewards to help you form the habit. Listening to Books on Tape while running, for example, or watching a favourite cooking show on the treadmill can help reinforce an exercise habit. Or plan an exercise date so the reward is time with a friend.

TAKE THE HEALTHY-HABITS WELL CHALLENGE: Now that you know what it takes to start building healthy habits, try the new Well Challenge, which gives you a small tip every day to help you move more, connect with those you love, refresh your mind and nourish your body. Just sign up, and I’ll send you a daily email about your next challenge.

By Tara Parker-Pope © The New York Times 


Taken from this article:
Researchers say build healthy habits by tying it to an existing one

Researchers: pessimism may be heritable and optimism can be learned

Researchers say pessimism may be heritable and optimism can be learned

When you watch the news these days, it’s hard not to be pessimistic – and even harder for some people, depending on genes and socioeconomic status.

Yet battling your inner Eeyore can have profound effects. Research suggests that optimists earn more money, have better relationships and even live longer. And the thing is: Optimism can be learned.

Optimism can be learned.

“Pessimism is one of the personality traits that’s highly heritable, but also modifiable by specific exercises,” said Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania and author of The Hope Circuit.

In other words, you can blame your parents for your bleak outlook, but you don’t have to resign yourself to it forever. Here are four ways to start walking on the sunnier side of the street.

VISUALISE YOUR BEST POSSIBLE SELF 

Imagine your dream life in 10 years – what would it look like? How would it feel? Now sit down and write about it: Once a week, for six to eight minutes, for one or two months. Spend each session focusing on your “best possible self” in a single domain, such as family, career, romance or health.

Though it might sound like wishful thinking, dozens of studies show that imagining your ideal future can actually boost your levels of optimism.

Dozens of studies show that imagining your ideal future can actually boost your levels of optimism.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside and author of The How of Happiness, has employed this exercise with hundreds of subjects. It works, she said, because you’re strengthening your “optimistic muscles” by “thinking about all your dreams coming true as opposed to worrying about the worst possible outcome.”

ACCEPT THE INEVITABILITY OF DISAPPOINTMENT

Constantly expecting the worst? According to Laura Oliff, associate director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, it might be because you’re hoping to protect yourself from disappointment.

Many of the negative things we predict never actually happen – and that, even when they do, we usually recover pretty quickly.

But by trying to insulate yourself from life’s ups and downs, you’re missing out on something else, too: The “positive anticipation of events,” which Dr Oliff called a “very valuable” and “joyful” feeling. (For proof, just think about the pleasure of anticipating a vacation.)

As Dr Oliff pointed out, “You’ll be disappointed at times no matter what.” So if your choice is between positive expectations that are occasionally proven wrong or negative expectations that are occasionally proven right, you might as well go with the former.

While this mind-set shift is easier described than done, Dr Oliff said it can help to remember that “many of the negative things we predict never actually happen” – and that, even when they do, we usually recover pretty quickly.

ARGUE AGAINST YOURSELF 

So your co-worker got the promotion you were angling for. And your mind is filling with thoughts like: I’m bad at my job. I’ll never move up the ladder. I might as well quit right now.

When you enter that pessimism spiral, Dr Seligman says the trick is to first recognise the voice making those negative remarks, then argue with it as if it were “an external person whose mission in life is to make you miserable.”

The trick is to first recognise the voice making those negative remarks, then argue with it as if it were “an external person whose mission in life is to make you miserable.

How would you argue with your nemesis? You’d present evidence to prove them wrong, such as: I’m not bad at my job – my co-worker has been here for two years longer than I have. Or: I’ll eventually get promoted – another position is opening up soon.

Turning this type of self-argument into a habit requires a little practice. “It’s not instantaneous,” Dr Seligman said. “But on the other hand, it’s not really onerous and difficult. It’s something that most people can acquire in a few days.”

PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE 

Another evidence-based approach to boost your optimism is to intentionally counteract your extremely negative predictions with extremely positive ones. This will enable you to find the middle of the road – or, as Dr Seligman said, to “put things in perspective.”

Let’s say you have a doozy of a fight with your partner. She leaves the house, slamming the door on the way out. If you’re like many humans, Dr Seligman said you’ll naturally be attracted to the “most catastrophic interpretation”: This is the end, I’m unlovable, I’m going to die alone.

Another evidence-based approach to boost your optimism is to intentionally counteract your extremely negative predictions with extremely positive ones.

As a counterbalance, imagine the least catastrophic interpretation, too: Your partner’s on the way home with a tub of ice cream and will never mention the disagreement again.

Between those two poles is where you’ll find the sweet spot – the realistic interpretation. It might be: She’ll come back in a few hours, we’ll talk, it’ll be weird tomorrow and then back to normal. Though not as pleasant as the ice cream scenario, this outlook is far better (and far more plausible) than the ultra-pessimistic one with which you started.

By consistently practicing the two previous strategies – arguing against yourself and putting things in perspective – Dr Seligman said you can make changes that stick.

“This is not armchair stuff,” he said. “These are things that have been tested with literally thousands of people.” Over time, he said these exercises can produce long-lasting results that “basically permanently change extreme pessimism into something much less pessimistic.”

That sounds like something to be optimistic about.

By Susan Shain © The New York Times


Taken from this article:
https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/how-to-be-more-optimistic-12452836