Building Habits and Routines
OK everybody. I’m here to drop a little science on you today. Specifically, the science of behavior. In my previous post HERE I shared my morning routine. I shared how I took back my mornings and now set myself up for having a successful day by starting with gratitude and focus. The picture above this blog post was on the day, about three months ago, I hit a milestone. It was my 100th Pilates class! I have always struggled adding exercise to my routine. Nothing stuck until Pilates. It may seem like a simple thing. Just start. Just begin doing “the thing.” But to anyone who has ever tried to add a healthy exercise routine, lose weight, kick a Facebook addiction, quit smoking, eat breakfast, etc, etc, you know how hard it can be. It’s usually not as simple as deciding to make the change or add the habit, although deciding is definitely a necessary first step. But it can be as simple as ABC as follows:
(A) Antecedents, also known as cues. This is whatever will prompt you to perform a certain task. The antecedent always happens first and can be blatantly obvious or difficult to recognize. It can be something physical that you see or hear, or it can be covert and sneaky like a thought or feeling. Make sure you establish cues that will cause positive, wanted behaviors to follow. Visual reminders or alarms are great for this.
(B) This is the “thing” you do. The act. The action, the reaction, the activity that happens. The habit that you perform…either wanted or unwanted.
(C) The consequence is what happens after the behavior that either increases or decreases the likelihood that the behavior will occur again. This can be something positive or reinforcing that will make it more likely that you will do the behavior again. Or it can be something punishing or negative that will discourage the behavior from being repeated. The consequence can be something obvious and naturally occurring, like getting to eat chocolate cake after doing the work of making it. It can be something you set up for yourself like giving yourself a 15 minute break to do something fun after an hour of work. It can also be something internal like the feeling of satisfaction after an hour of exercising. Sometimes the behavior itself is rewarding, but if you are trying to establish a new habit, making little “deals” with yourself by rewarding your new positive habits are essential until the habit becomes second nature.
To build a routine, you simply chain together the habits you want to include. Start small with the most rewarding of the behaviors and add on when it’s an established habit as follows:
The (A) antecedent/cue leads to the (B) behavior/habit which is reinforced by the (C) consequence, which becomes the (A) antecedent/cue for the next behavior/habit and so on and so on and so on.
A → B → C/A → B → C/A → B → C
For example, if you want to add an exercise habit to your morning routine, you could proceed as follows:
Lay out your exercise clothes and shoes beside your bed the night before. When you set your alarm and get out of bed, your clothes and shoes become your (A) antecedent/cue. Then you go outside for a morning walk or head to your Pilates class (B). When you come home, you have a 10 minute stretch/yoga as a cool-down (C). After your stretch/yoga session (A), you make a creamy, delicious smoothie (B) and sit on the porch to enjoy your smoothie (C). After you enjoy your smoothie (A) you quietly sit on the porch, listening to the morning sounds and engage in a two-minute guided meditation session (B), followed by a shower (C).
But what if you need to stop an unhealthy behavior? You’ve finally decided to kick that bad habit, but the key is that you don’t want to create a vacuum or void. If you have had a bad habit for a long time and it’s deeply ingrained, there are powerful cues and consequences at work. Simply telling yourself “I’m just gonna stop doing ______,” you will struggle to ignore those powerful cues. They will become louder and louder until they are shouting in your head! They will be impossible to ignore. What you need to do is establish a positive replacement behavior. When that antecedent (cue) rears its ugly head and tickles your brain, whispering or shouting at you, make a plan to do something else. Something different. Something incompatible with the behavior you want to stop. Do something enjoyable but healthy for you. Do something that aligns with your vision and goals for yourself. And then, you need to reward that shiny new behavior so it happens again and again. You do have to spend time building your new behavior. Trying it two or three times is not enough. But how often have we all tried to quit something or start something new, only to give up after a few days or a week? How many times have we tossed our hands in the air and exclaimed “this isn’t working!”? It takes time and consistency for a new habit to take root. 20-30-60 days at least!
So adding Pilates to my routine did not happen overnight. Now that I am on the other side of 100 classes and one year later, I still occasionally struggle to get myself there. But I really do practice what I teach. I implement cues and rewards for myself to keep going. I am happy to say that completing a Pilates class is usually the reinforcement in and of itself, and the changes this habit have brought to my fitness and flexibility is SO worth it.
