How to form a Habit - Women's Running Magazine October 2015

Have you ever thought about how we form a habit? For most of us it is an unconcious act that we do without realising, especially the bad ones! However there is a process to forming habits and once we understand that process we can apply it to form habits that will support our goals.

Recently, I contributed to an article in Women's Running Magazine (this month's issue) about how we form habits and how I work with clients to help them form habits related to exercise. This article has lots of good points by its contributors. I have my full contribution here. Or see below for magazine article pages. Enjoy!

How to form a habit

Habits start with a psychological loop that scientists call the “habit loop”. This consists of three stages. First is the cue (or reminder), that initiates the behavior, then is the routine, which is the behaviour itself and then there is the reward, which is the outcome of the behaviour. Usually it is the outcome that drives the habit but the cues play a big role. For example you may like to eat biscuits but you may not eat them until someone at work puts the kettle on and that triggers the brain that it’s time for a coffee break. Often, it’s not always clear what the rewards are. For example you may like the coffee and biscuit break because of the sugar rush or you may like it because in fact you want a break or a little distraction from work. Determining the perceived reward is the first step to changing a habit.

Habit-loop

How I encourage clients to make running a regular habit

1. Goal setting

To create a new habit I ask my clients to establish a clear goal of what they want to achieve and why? A distinct goal helps them to focus on where they’re going and helps them to determine how to get there. For example training for a marathon will be very different to training for a 5K run or training for weight-loss.

2. Creating the right cues

Since habits consist of three phases, the cue, the routine and the reward, I would get my client to identify a reward associated with running. With the reward in mind they would use current cues to recreate a new habit. For example, a daily activity such as brushing their teeth could be used as a cue to getting their kit on to go out for a run in the morning. The reward could be the nice long shower they get when they return.

Three short tips

1. Make a plan

Write a plan of the week or weeks ahead. Include what days you will run and how long for, what you will do if it rains, what route/s you will take each day, when you will put out your clothes, what and when will you eat (including shopping for food), how you will track your runs, what to play on your playlist. The more you can plan the better.

2. Rewards

Reward yourself after each run. It could be a refreshing cold drink, a smoothie, or a tiny sweet snack. This will cause your brain to associate your run with something good, creating a new neurological pathway for your new habit. Every so often reward yourself with something big like new kit or a new pair of trainers.

3. Start small

If your goal is to run every morning for an hour before work start by running on two or three mornings and build it up. Work on creating a small habit that you can do regularly until it’s automatic and then add to it.

Of course there is much more to habit forming and let's not forget the old adage that it takes 30 days to form a habit. Actually it takes anywhere between 18 and 254 days with most people averaging at around 66 days (according to study done by Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher at University College London). It's also not true that if you miss a day that it all falls apart. You can still form a habit if you have been inconsistent on some days.

This shows that habit-forming is a process not an event. So take heart! And don't give up. Start forming some good habits and watch your lifestyle soar!