Create healthy habits that stick

We all hear the same health advice time and time again.  

“Eat healthy.” “Exercise.” “Get enough sleep.” 

Yet knowing what is good for us is not always enough to do these things on a regular basis.    

The good news is that there’s a better way to set ourselves up for success.   

The answer lies in forming healthy habits that don’t rely on knowledge or even motivation – with a little help from neuroscience. 

The human brain is hardwired to seek pleasure and reward.  

Motivation (the urge to eat that chocolate) and reward (the “mmmmmmm” feeling that comes when we eat it) are governed by many structures in the brain that work together to regulate dopamine activity. In turn, this influences how motivated or rewarded we feel. 

Unfortunately, there is no “magic button” that we can press in those parts of the brain when you need a hit of motivation.  

Even professional athletes don’t feel motivated all the time. Yet they’ve figured out a way to consistently do hard things, even when they don’t feel like it.  

And you can too. 

Take a moment to reflect on a new healthy habit that you’d like to achieve – maybe it’s going for a walk once a week. 

Whatever your goal may be, one thing is for certain: Turning a new goal into a healthy habit requires behavioural change. 

The key is to turn this new behaviour – which requires conscious effort – into a habit as quickly as possible.  

Habits are behaviours we do automatically, without too much thinking or willpower. Once established, they guide our behaviour even when we feel unmotivated or aren’t consciously thinking of doing it. 

Think about how you make a morning cuppa every day – you don’t need to consciously think about doing this. 

The news gets even better. 

Neuroscience tells us that we can form new habits more effectively, if we join it to an existing one. The new habit “piggybacks” the brain circuits that are already in place, making the transition from new behaviour (high effort) to habit (lower effort) so much easier. Here’s how it’s done: 

Step 1. Pick one new healthy habit that can support your goal. Keep it small, simple, specific and achievable. 

“Go for a 10-minute walk each day.” 

Step 2. Choose a habit that you already do without thinking.  

“Listen to the news every morning.” 

Step 3. Use this existing habit as a prompt to remind you to do the new habit. 

“Before I listen to the news, I will go for a 10-minute walk first.”  

Step 4. Stick to the habit – even if you don’t carry out the full new behaviour. 

For example, it may not be possible to walk on a rainy day. Stick to the habit of putting on your walking shoes and stepping outside the building – even just for a moment – rather than staying at home. Remember, it’s the habit of heading out to walk before listening to the news that we need to focus on to establish the new habit in the brain.  

Step 5. Reward yourself immediately. 

“I’ll enjoy a nice cuppa when I get home while listening to the morning news.” 

Step 6. Repeat – until this is something you do without thinking!  

Step 7. When you feel ready, build onto the habit, or introduce a new habit, to get closer to achieving your goal.  

For example, you might increase your walk’s duration or add a hill to your route. Or you might introduce a new habit following steps 1 to 6. 

There’s one more secret to achieving goals that works. It’s simple but powerful: 

Set a goal that is meaningful to you.  

Research shows that goals are more effective when they have intrinsic value. In other words, align goals to your core values or things you care deeply about.  

If you have a big goal, the baby steps needed to form a long-term habit might seem slow in delivering results.  

But forming habits that support a long-term healthy lifestyle are so important to reducing our risk of disease that the Healthy Brain Ageing research team at the Thompson Institute are investigating more ways to support people to form them.  

One study by program lead, Dr Sophie Andrews, found that people who had stronger walking habits spent more time walking than people without those habits.  

Just because we know that physical activity, for example, can increase our life span and quality, doesn’t mean we’ll dust off the hiking shoes. 

Older adults may have an advantage too – our research suggests that, while establishing a new habit might take additional effort at first, people over the age of 60 years are best placed to maintain these behaviors. 

Habits help us continue a positive behavior after a temporary interruption.  

In addition to the motivation slumps we’ve already mentioned, best intentions can be interrupted by competing influences like time pressures, illness and family needs.