EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST – 32
Mrs.DEVI VENUGOPAL
INDONESIA
Readers, hopefully the last article enlightens us the strategy behind introducing new habits, rather than just giving up that I don’t have the self-control for it. We are moving forward into the 2nd Law of Behavior change – Make the habit more irresistible. The real trick is that you have to make the habit you need to do to be more attractive.
Why to do so?
A habit is nothing but a Dopamine feedback loop, remember the first time you had a drink or watching series of Netflix shows, the reward is the release of the dopamine. For centuries Scientists have assumed that dopamine was all about pleasure until recently research has proven that dopamine plays a central role in many other neurological functions such as motivation, learning and memory, punishment and aversion and voluntary movement.
So the key take away when it comes to habits is dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it.
Cocaine addicts get a surge of dopamine when they see the powder, gabbling addicts get their dopamine spike the previous night before they place the bet. Whenever you see and opportunity that will be rewarding, your levels of dopamine spike in anticipation, henceforth your motivation to act.
The conclusion is that the anticipation of reward which runs the motor not the fulfillment of it.
That is why sometimes thinking about the vacation gives you the better experience than the attainment of it. Remember when we were kids, thinking of Christmas mornings can be better than opening the gifts. This is referred to as the difference between “wanting” and “liking.” Your brain allocates more neural circuitry to wanting than like liking. When you want something, your brain allocates 100% of the circuits are activated, meanwhile only 10% of the structure is activated during liking.So the fact that brain allocates so much space for craving and desire provides further evidence how significant these processes are. It is the craving that leads to the response. This is the reason why we need to make it more attractive, so the anticipation of the rewarding motivates us to act in the first place. This is known as temptation bundling.
How to use temptation bundling to make habits more attractive?
Lets look into an example, Ronan Byrne, an electrical engineering student in Ireland, enjoyed watching Netflix, but he knew that he should exercise more often than he did. So he combined his engineering skills to connect his stationary bike with his laptop and wrote a program that only he cycles at a certain speed he can stream Netflix, otherwise it pauses. He employed the temptation bundling to make his exercise habits more attractive. If you want to watch your favorite celebrity gossip, decide to watch that tabloid only in gym. If you want to have your monthly drink, associate with the days of workout, so you earn to do your favorite. Temptation is one way to apply Premack’s Principle, named after the Prof. David Premack, the principle states that “more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors.” If you don’t want to process overdue emails, if you conditioned to do it if it means you get to do something you really want to do it. For instance, you can club it with a pedicure or manicure, or a coffee at your favorite place. Do you guys still remember habit stacking, which is an effective method to introduce new habits along with the existing ones, we can club the temptation building with the habit stacking.
The habit stacking + temptation building formula is
- After [Current Habit], I will [Habit I need].
- After [Habit I Need], I will [Habit I Want].
If you want to check your IG posts in the morning, but you want to express more gratitude.
- After I get my morning coffee, I will say one thing I’m grateful for that happened yesterday (need).
- After I say one thing I’m grateful form I will check my IG posts.
I want to do more exercise while browsing social media, then
- After I pull my phone, I will do ten burpees (need).
- After I do ten burpees, I will check facebook (want).
Temptation bundling is one way to heightened our desire to take action, but connecting the new habit to the old one. We will explore the role of friends, family and society at large in shaping a habit in the next article.
