Habitus 

"Motivation is what gets you started, habits is what keeps you going."

                                                                                      - JIM RYUN

Since lockdown I have been trying to inculcate some healthy habits, well it did turn out to be a transformation period for some and a learning period for most of us, I learned a lot too.

Habits, although is a small six letter word, it is said to be an essential for life. People are defined by their habits, almost all of us, aspiring to achieve something in our lives, have looked up for habits of the accomplished.

More than 40 percent of the actions you perform each day aren’t actual decisions, but habits.

This is the power of habits.

Habits are said to be the cables, we weave a thread everyday at last we cannot break it. Making good habits and breaking the bad ones is a challenge.

In this post I am going to share with you a few ways which will make your habit building journey simpler. This is a going to be a two part post because I want to discuss the topics in detail.

Today, I am going to give you guys deep insight on the working of habits.

WHAT ARE HABITS ?

Habits are said to repeated tasks that we do subconsciously. While we perform a habit we are not really there in the present moment.

Habits are triggered by cues which can be people, environment or rewards.

Whenever we try something new, a neuron connection is formed in our brain but the connection is very weak, as we repeat the task the connection grows stronger and stronger. As the connection grows stronger our body starts to consider it a habit.

According to researchers, out brain represents only 2% of our body but it consumes 20% of our body’s energy. So, when the body is performing a habit it consumes much less energy as compared to performing a new task. This means thicker and stronger the neuron connection, less the energy consumed.

Therefore if we make the tasks we need to do forever a habit, it will be much easier on our body as well.

Now let's have a deeper look at how habits work. 

It is impossible to talk about habits and not talk about James Clears's book Atomic Habits. So let's view what he has to say about the woking of habits The author has divided this process of forming habits into a four parts: cue, craving, response, and reward.

First is the cue. The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behaviour. Our minds are continuously analysing our internal and external environment for hints of where we can get maximum rewards.Second is cravings. They are the motivational force behind every habit, it could be intrinsic( motivation derived from internal forces) or extrinsic ( motivation derived from external forces such as- awards, bonus etc).This is the response. The response is the actual habit you perform. It requires action from your side.Finally, the last one is the reward. Rewards are the end outcome of every habit.

The four stages of habit are best described as a feedback loop or commonly known as the habit loop.

This is all for this week, now that we have got the basics right, I will be getting some amazing tips for you guys next week which will make your habit building journey much easier!!

Stay tuned and have a joyous week!!