The Habit Loop: 3 Simple Steps To Build Any Healthy Habit
Have you ever caught yourself thinking “TODAY is the day I stop _______ and start _______!!!” only to live your dream healthy life for a few days, realize it’s extremely exhausting and time-consuming, and fall back into old habits by the end of the week?
If your answer was yes - same, Girl! I’ve been in your shoes too many times to count and I always found myself frustrated because I had no idea how others made it look so seamless online but I was struggling to hold it all together.
I tried over and over again to love working out in the gym, only for my gym membership to collect dust.
I tried cooking more meals from home, only to hit the drive-thru on my way home because I was too exhausted to cook.
I tried sleeping early, only to feel FOMO as all of my friends played games online together while I lay alone in bed.
No matter how sincere my intentions were, I’d always fall back into old, destructive habits.
That was until I discovered The Habit Loop.
What Is “The Habit Loop”?
The Habit Loop was introduced by Charles Duhigg in “The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business”.
This loop explains how and why habits develop through three main components:
The Cue
The Routine
The Reward
The Cue
The cue is the trigger that sparks a behavior.
It can take many forms but usually falls into one of the following categories:
Location
Time
Current Emotional State
People Around You
Your Last Action
A Habit You Already Have That You’d Like To Pair Or Transform Into Another Habit/Routine
The Routine
Routine refers to the habit or repeated behavior.
These routines can be conscious or subconscious actions.
And as we do them over and over again, they become a routine.
The Reward
The reward is what the behavior does for you and reinforces routines that keep habits firmly in place.
The reward can be a tangible reward or a physical/emotional response that reinforces the behavior.
The Habit Loop In Action
The habit I’d like to create: Working out before work at the gym
Cue: Setting an alarm at 5 am
Routine: Waking up, hopping out of bed immediately, taking a shot of pre-workout, and getting into workout clothes before driving to the gym.
Reward: Feeling more motivated and energized to tackle the day since you’ve gotten an awesome workout in and completed a big task first thing in the morning
The habit I’d like to create: Cooking more meals from home
Cue: Hunger around dinner time
Routine: Checking my list of go-to easy recipes and beginning to prep ingredients
Reward: A delicious, wholesome recipe that took less time to make than it would have taken to drive to McDonald’s, sit in the drive-thru, wait for my meal, and then drive home to eat it.
The habit I’d like to create: Sleeping early
Cue: Set a wind-down alarm
Routine: Complete a simple night routine, hop into bed, and participate in an activity that makes you sleepy (like reading or watching a boring documentary) until you fall asleep.
Reward: Waking up fully rested with lots of energy to kick off a new day
