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How to create new habits? The neurobiological processes behind resolutions

Neuroscienze

Because, despite the excellent intentions, do good intentions often vanish after a few weeks? Spoiler: does not depend on a lack of willpower or discipline, to which many sometimes we tend to attribute the cause of these failures. The real reason is that you're fighting against biology.

To understand how to create new Habits You need to know the way the mind has been programmed. Building solid routines is a matter of pure neurobiology: By knowing the mechanics, you can use them to your advantage instead of rowing them against.

 

The neurobiology of habits: what happens in the brain?

When you consciously decide to do something, such as joining the gym, using the prefrontal cortex, the seat of rational thought. However, this area consumes a lot of energy. For To save resources, the brain tends to shift repeated behaviors into the ganglia of the base, an evolutionarily ancient structure that manages the automatisms. It is an incredible advantage for survival, but it is also the which is why it is so tiring to change ingrained behaviors.

This is done through chunking neurological. Think about when you learned to drive: at the beginning every gesture it required extreme attention. Today, you drive for miles without thinking, Because the brain has compressed all those individual actions into one automatic package.

On a physical level, whenever you repeat an action, strengthen neural connections through a process called myelination. Thanks to neuroplasticity, the brain remodels itself materially around your habits, such as games to train your mind. And at the center of all this is her: dopamine. This neurotransmitter is not related to pleasure itself, but to anticipation of pleasure, and it is the engine that pushes you to repeat an action.

 

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The habit loop: the cycle of routine and its limits

To understand how to change habits, we must analyze the most famous model, Charles Duhigg's habit loop. Each automatism is based on three phases: the signal (the trigger, as well as the phone notification), the routine (opening social media) and the reward (the distraction).

Authors such as James Clear, however, have noted that a fundamental element is missing: craving, or the desire generated by dopamine. Between the signal and the action, there must be a positive anticipation, otherwise the loop does not activate. This is where the Good intentions and brains come into conflict: if your new habit is only tiring and does not generate craving, it is destined to fail.

What is the theory of 21 days?

Another big obstacle is the myth of the 21 days, born from a misinterpretation of an old theory of the plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz, who had observed that patients needed at least 21 days to get used to the new image of following surgery.

Scientific research has, in fact, denied that was a sufficient amount of time to adapt to transformations deep. According to a famous research by psychologist Phillippa Lally (University of College London), it takes an average of 66 days (with a range from 18 to 254) to make a new behavior automatic. Abandoning the myth of the 21 days saves you from unrealistic expectations that cause frustration.

 

How to change habits. Effective strategies for the brain 

If you want to understand how to create new habits, you need to use strategies that speak the language of your neurons. Here are the most effective, based on solid scientific evidence.

  • Intentions of implementation. Use the "if-then": say "If it's 6:00 p.m. and I've taken a break from work, then I'll I put on my running shoes" bypasses the decision-making fatigue of the cortex prefrontal.
  • Reduction of friction. The brain follows the path of least resistance. Pack your gym bag night before or leave the book on the bedside table. Make the new behavior The easiest option.
  • Reward immediate. The link between habits and dopamine works in the short term. Combine a strenuous action with a (temptation bundling), for example by listening to your podcast Preferred only while you train.
  • Forgiveness neurological system. Skipping a day does not reset progress, but feelings of guilt do. Self-criticism raises the cortisol, which interferes with the circuits of the dopamine. Apply the golden rule: never jump twice in a row.

Habit stacking and Activation ritual

One of the most powerful techniques is habit stacking: hooking the new habit to an already rooted one (e.g. "after having had breakfast, I will devote 30 minutes to study"). This technique It uses an already solid neural circuit.

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FAQs about creating new habits

How long does it take Really to create a new habit?

The myth of 21 days is outdated. The scientific research shows that it takes an average of 66 days to automate a behavior, depending on the complexity of the action and the individual.

Why it's so hard Changing old habits?

Because established habits reside in the basal ganglia, an area of the brain that manages the automatisms to save energy. Overriding these automatisms requires a conscious effort and a lot of repetition.

What role does dopamine play in daily routines? 

Dopamine does not regulate pleasure, but the desire and anticipation of it. It is the chemical drive that motivates you to Take an action when you recognize the signal that precedes a reward.

What is habit stacking?

It is a neurobiological technique that consists of attaching a new behavior to a habit that you already perform in automatic mode (e.g. "after drinking coffee, I will write the to-do list"), exploiting the neural networks already active.


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