Why is it so hard to break a bad habit? — Transcript

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1. 0:07Billions of people deal with a nail-biting habit at some point in their lives.
2. 0:12Many will go to great lengths to try to stop,
3. 0:14employing strategies like rubbing chili peppers on their cuticles,
4. 0:17wearing gloves all day, dipping their hands in salt,
5. 0:20and envisioning bacteria crawling on their fingers.
6. 0:25And while not all of us are nail-biters,
7. 0:27most of us do have a habit we'd like to kick.
8. 0:30So what's the best way to break one?
9. 0:33Scientists define habits as behaviors that are performed regularly,
10. 0:37and cued subconsciously in response to certain environments,
11. 0:41whether it be a location, time of day, or even an emotional state.
12. 0:45They can include simple actions like picking your hair when stressed,
13. 0:48but also more complex practices ingrained in daily routines,
14. 0:53like staying up late or brewing your coffee in the morning.
15. 0:56If you do something frequently, without much deliberation,
16. 1:00then it’s likely a habit.
17. 1:02They form because at some point your brain learns that the behavior is beneficial.
18. 1:08Let's say after opening a stressful email, you bite your nails.
19. 1:11This is rewarding, as it’s enough to focus your attention,
20. 1:14curbing your email fueled anxiety.
21. 1:18Within your brain, positive experiences can trigger the release of dopamine,
22. 1:22a neurotransmitter that mediates feelings of pleasure.
23. 1:26Dopamine is also a driver of neuroplasticity,
24. 1:30meaning it can change how your neurons wire and fire.
25. 1:34Your brain builds connections that link the reward with the behavior,
26. 1:39driving you to repeat it.
27. 1:41It also starts associating the behavior with other cues, like your environment.
28. 1:46Eventually, all it takes is the context of sitting at your desk
29. 1:50to subconsciously trigger a nail-biting habit—
30. 1:53no stressful email or sense of relief required.
31. 1:57Once established, these cue-behavior-reward loops work fast,
32. 2:03outpacing the decision-making process.
33. 2:06You may find yourself engaging in a habit
34. 2:08before you have the chance to notice and stop.
35. 2:11But this can be a good thing because not all habits are bad.
36. 2:15They’re stored memories of what’s worked in the past,
37. 2:19which allow you to take swift action in the present.
38. 2:23One study estimated that on average,
39. 2:25people spend more than 40% of their days performing regularly repeated behaviors
40. 2:30while their minds are occupied with other thoughts.
41. 2:33A seemingly automated morning routine, for example,
42. 2:36saves you both time and precious mental energy.
43. 2:39Still, many people have habits that no longer serve them.
44. 2:43Yet research shows that intentions alone often fail
45. 2:47to lead to long-term behavior change.
46. 2:49This isn’t to say you can’t break a habit.
47. 2:52Rather, by understanding the basis of habits,
48. 2:55you can create better plans for changing them.
49. 2:59For example, we know habits are often cued by environments and routines.
50. 3:04Lying in bed may cause you to endlessly scroll through your phone,
51. 3:08or watching TV on the couch may lead you to grab a sugary snack.
52. 3:12One of the most effective ways to manage behavior
53. 3:15is to identify these locations or times of day.
54. 3:19Then try to modify them by changing your routine
55. 3:22or creating obstacles that make it more difficult to perform the habit
56. 3:26in that space.
57. 3:27Moving, switching jobs, or even starting a new schedule,
58. 3:31are particularly great times to break a habit or build a new one.
59. 3:36One 2005 study tracked university students’ exercising,
60. 3:40reading, and TV watching habits before and after they transferred schools.
61. 3:44When students were no longer around old environments and routines,
62. 3:48their habits, even the strong ones, significantly changed.
63. 3:52For behaviors like nail-biting or hair-pulling,
64. 3:55a practice called habit reversal training can be helpful.
65. 3:59Developed by psychologists in the 1970s,
66. 4:02the aim is to change a habit by replacing it with another one
67. 4:06that’s less detrimental.
68. 4:08The training requires you to analyze and understand your habit cues,
69. 4:12so you can effectively intervene at the right times.
70. 4:15For example, if you tend to bite your nails at work,
71. 4:18preemptively keep a fidget toy at your desk.
72. 4:21Then, if a stressful email comes in,
73. 4:23use the toy when you feel the urge to bite your nails.
74. 4:26Breaking a habit takes time,
75. 4:28so remember to give yourself grace and have patience through the process.
76. 4:32And while many focus on their bad habits,
77. 4:35it’s also worth celebrating the good ones
78. 4:37that help us move swiftly and successfully through our daily routines.