24 Jul 2024
Breaking a bad habit can be tough because our brains are wired to keep doing what they're used to. Instead of focusing on stopping a bad habit, it's smarter to work on building a new, good habit to take its place.
I once used a habit scorecard to help me with drinking more water and by the end of the week, I was motivated to make better choices. It wasn't always easy, but the scorecard helped me stay on track and gradually shift towards healthier choices. In this article, I will explore why it works and the best way to implement it.
Good for: Developing new habits that stick
Best used by: You
A Habits Scorecard is a simple yet powerful tool for gaining insight into your everyday habits. It involves listing your daily routines and assigning a positive, negative, or neutral score or mark to each. This self-assessment encourages mindfulness about how each habit contributes to or detracts from your personal goals.
When you focus on a new good habit, you're giving your brain something positive to work towards, not just telling it to stop doing something. My example, was rather than just trying to stop drinking fizzy juice, I started drinking more water. Over time, my brain started to prefer this new, healthier choice.
This way, you're not just fighting against the old habit; you're creating a healthier routine that can stick. It's like teaching your brain a new path to walk on, instead of just telling it to stop walking the old path.
Why Habits Are Formed
Our brain forms habits because it likes to save energy. When we do something a lot, like riding a bike or brushing our teeth, our brain turns this action into a habit so we can do it without thinking too hard.
According to James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, it starts with something that triggers an action (like feeling bored might make us snack), then we do the action (like eating a cookie), and finally, we get a reward (like enjoying the taste of the cookie).
When this happens a lot, our brain starts to make a connection between the trigger and the reward, making us automatically do the action without thinking much about it.
It's like our brain makes a shortcut because it knows that doing this action will make us feel good. The more we repeat this cycle, the stronger the habit becomes, making it a regular part of our day.
Example: Procrastination
Let’s relate this to a habit of procrastination, linked to putting off tough tasks we don't want to face. Here's how it happens in simple steps:
Feeling Overwhelmed. When we see a difficult task, we might feel overwhelmed or scared of failing.
Seeking Comfort. To avoid these bad feelings, we look for something that makes us feel better quickly, like watching TV or scrolling through social media.
Getting a Temporary Escape. Doing these fun activities gives us a short break from feeling stressed about the task. This relief is the "reward" our brain gets.
Repeating the Cycle. Every time we're faced with a hard task and choose to do something else instead, our brain remembers the relief we felt.
Over time, this becomes a habit. We start to automatically put off difficult tasks without thinking much about it because our brain has learned that avoiding the task makes us feel better for a little while.
Keeping a Habits Scorecard
List your daily habits, categorising them into morning, afternoon, and evening routines.
Mark each habit as positive (+), negative (-), or neutral (0) based on their impact on your goals.
At the end of each week, review your scorecard to identify patterns and areas for improvement.
Replace or modify negative habits with more positive actions.
Recognise and celebrate the changes you've made, no matter how small.
Therefore, a habits scorecard can be a reflective mirror, revealing the daily routines that shape our lives. By consciously evaluating our habits, we can steer our actions towards a more productive and fulfilling life.
Here are some pros and cons
Pros
By keeping track of your habits, you become more aware of the unconscious actions that shape your day.
It helps identify negative habits that need changing and reinforces positive behaviours.
Tracking progress can motivate you to stick to new, beneficial habits.
Cons
Initially, setting up and maintaining a scorecard can feel like a chore.
For some, the act of monitoring every habit can be daunting and potentially discouraging.
"Your habits determine your future. Choose wisely." – Unknown
Reflective Question:
How can altering one small habit today pave the way for substantial growth tomorrow?
I hope you found this week's exploration enlightening and practical. Subscribe to the blog for more weekly insights into personal growth strategies.
Thank you for reading.
Dionne
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Remember you can find more reflections and thought-provoking questions like this on the Reevew personal growth toolkit at reevew.co.
