In my last blog post I wrote about making ‘self-care’ more accessible by developing smaller, bite-sized ‘care practices’ that we can incorporate into our daily lives. I want to go a little deeper into what it means to cultivate a practice, aka a habit.
Is it just me or does it seem easier to cultivate, and harder to eliminate, a ‘bad’ habit than a ‘good’ one? The word “cultivate” is a verb, which means action is required. I know I can’t just wish a new practice or habit into being, but it often feels like bad habits are harvested easily, like the low hanging fruit, while good habits I really must dig for!
A Bit of Brain Science
Cultivating a practice is not about willpower, or the lack thereof, which is great news because we can stop beating ourselves up when we struggle to implement a consistent practice. It’s brain science. The brain needs dopamine. Dopamine, and other neurotransmitters such as serotonin, have a role in many physiologic activities such as movement, memory & cognition, attention, and behavior. Dopamine is also part of the pleasurable reward & motivation cycle. It’s not called the feel-good hormone for nothing. It gives you a send of pleasure and the motivation to continue doing what caused the release in the first place. This is why, when a certain behavior gets linked to a reward-dopamine-pleasure loop in the brain (consciously, or more likely unconsciously) then the sequence of Cue/Trigger – Action – “Reward” reinforces that behavior. And after enough repetition, voila, we have a habit or a practice.
I use the word reward loosely because the thing is, the brain doesn’t much care where the dopamine comes from. For example, our brains can receive a dopamine hit if we go for a jog, which is more likely to support our health goals, or if we sit on the couch eating Ben & Jerry’s, which probably doesn’t. The brain just wants its dopamine, it doesn’t care if the long-term effect of the practice serves the rest of our body and mind. The brain is a bit selfish that way. But the good news is, we can leverage this simple habit building formula to work for us, not just against us. We don’t have to rely on willpower alone to cultivate practices/habits that support our personal care practices and reward us in ways that improve our well-being.
The 3 R’s of Habit Change
You’ve probably heard the adage that it takes 21 days to create a new habit but that isn’t entirely true. There is a large body of work and research dedicated to habit formation and much of it comes down to not only frequency, but also linking the new practice to a practice that you already have in place. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, uses the catchy phrase “The 3 R’s” of habit change or habit formation to explain.
Reminder (Trigger/Existing action) -> Routine (New Action) -> Reward (Benefit you gain)
Regardless of the terminology used, the fundamental point is that if you want to create a new practice/habit that makes you feel better, link it to something you already do. And the more frequently you do it the better. For example, every time you brush your teeth or go to the bathroom do 10 body weight squats and give yourself a high 5! It will get your blood pumping and your booty will thank you. Or every time you get an email notification drink some water.
In healthcare, the single most common trigger we probably have during our shift is washing our hands. And we know we are supposed to wash for at least 20 seconds. Instead of spending those 20 seconds (fifty times a day) singing Happy Birthday twice, or worse, stressing about our next activity, the call light going off, the phone ringing, what if we try a care practice such as taking a deep breath, focusing our attention on our heart, and saying something kind to ourselves. The reward we gain may just be an increased sense of calm, presence, and resilience as we move though our day.
I invite you to give it a try this month. I’d love to hear in the comments how it went for you
Resources
Clear, James. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Cornerstone Press, 2022.
Keller, J., Kwasnicka, D., Klaiber, P., Sichert, L., Lally, P. and Fleig, L. (2021), Habit formation following routine-based versus time-based cue planning: A randomized controlled trial. Br J Health Psychol, 26: 807-824. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12504
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