Stopping old behavior, building new habits and changing your life is a hard thing to do. The human brain is complex, and like most things that our bodies do, it is built to be lazy. Our brain doesn’t like to change when it’s used to doing something a certain way. This can be frustrating if you are trying to change your habits or create new ones.

But don’t give up, with knowing how lazy your brain is, it is still possible to change in a positive way. It won’t be easy, you have to be persistent and most of all consistent with your new behavior. The most important thing is to never give up on yourself, be kind and forgiving when you fail, but always try again. in your efforts.

The first step is to realize that changing old habits isn’t easy. Your brain has been doing something a certain way for years, and it’s going to fight every step of the way when you try to change it. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it; it just means that you need to be prepared for some resistance and know how to deal with it.

Change in 4 simple steps

1) Make It Invisible: Reduce exposure. Remove the cues of your bad habits from your environment.

2) Make It Unattractive: Reframing your mindset. Highlight the benefits of avoiding your bad habits. Don’t say ‘ I want to stop smoking’ as this activates the part of the brain related to smoking and actually makes you crave it. Reframe that by saying that you want to be healthy and fit.

3) Make It Difficult: Increasing friction is likely to help you break a bad habit. Increase the number of steps between you and your bad habits.

4) Make It Unsatisfying: Get an accountability partner. Ask somebody to watch your behaviour. You can also do this by using a habit contract. Make the costs of your bad habits public and painful.