The Simple Way To Break A Bad Habit

I below are my notes and link for a really good Ted Talk by Judson Brewer on how to break bad habits.  In summary, most of us live on a rewards based learning process.  This can be dangerous when the behavior is not healthy, like eating sugary foods or smoking cigarettes as he described in his video.  When we are triggered, we should instead be 'curious,' which is a behavior that can bring us pleasure in a more productive way that most of our unhealthier behaviors.

Here is the video.  After the jump are my notes.

0:40 – Why is it so hard to pay attention?  Studies show that half of us lose our attention even when we are really trying to pay attention.

1:12 – Positive and negative reinforcement, rewards based learning process.

-        Trigger, behavior, reward

-        See food, eat food, feel good

-        See cool, smoke to be cool, repeat

3:15 – Curiosity over triggers

- Mindfulness training: instead of forcing yourself to quit smoking; focus on being curious.  Go ahead and smoke, just be really curious about what it feels like when you do.

4:30 – Move from knowledge to wisdom.  You know its right or wrong.  Know how to change.

4:40 – Prefontal cortex (youngest part of our brain) knows we shouldn’t do it, and tis called cognitive control, but is the first part of our brain to shut down when we get stressed or tired.  We can’t help ourselves.  We then fall back into our old habits because its easy.

5:45 – Mindfulness is seeing clearly what we get when we get caught up in our behaviors, becoming disenchanted on a visceral level, and let go (on this disenchanted level).  Over time, we can let go of old habits.  Its about be really interested in what is going on in our body.  Turn toward our experience, through curiosity (which feels good). 

Being curious takes you away from fear based reactive habits.  It turns you to a scientist that seeks answers and better solutions. 

Tap into your curiosity and see what is happening in your body and mind in that moment.

Notice the urge, get curious, feel the joy of letting go, repeat.