4 Steps to Creating and Maintaining New Habits, According to Neuroscience

3-minute reading

What will you learn in this article?

• Four tips on how to proceed when developing a new habit.
• How to make sure the new habit becomes ingrained.
• What role do hormones play in adopting new habits and how it can help you.

Step 1: NAME IT

What is your goal? What activity would you like to adopt as your habit? And WHY?

Action: Do your best to properly identify what your goal is and why.

What does neuroscience have to say about it?

Paying attention to a certain activity helps our brain transfer it from our subconscious into our consciousness. This enables us to alter our behaviour and learn new things - this ability to change is called neuroplasticity. In the process, there are changes taking place in the brain and new neural pathways are formed.

On a neurobiological level, two neuromodulators that contribute to neuroplasticity and help you with attention are acetylcholine and noradrenaline. Both of them need to be present for neural circuits to be rewritten and for you to start adopting a new habit. Their levels are naturally highest in the morning, before midday. However, there are ways to support their production (and thereby learning). How? 

Action: If you do your activity in the first half of the day, support the release of the above mentioned hormones in these ways:

• Treat yourself to a cold shower (considering your cycle).
• Bask in the morning light.
• Enjoy a morning cup of coffee enriched with adaptogens.

Step 2: DISCOVER

Why don’t you practise the habit yet? Imagine a river. You are standing on one side, your new habit lies on the other side. What separates you from one another?

Ask yourself the following questions, for example:

• Do I lack motivation?
• Do I keep forgetting?
• Do I lack any tools or equipment?
• Do I fail to make free time?

Action: Here you have to answer yourself and then decide whether implementing a new habit is even feasible for you.

Was your answer NO? Great, now you can focus on other things and any potential guilt would be misplaced.

Was your answer YES? Then go on to Step 3!

Step 3: BUILD A BRIDGE

Here, learning starts and things are set in motion. Answer the questions from the previous step and create the right environment, prepare your tools, and find the right mindset. What will help you build a bridge across the river and make implementing your habit easier?

Action: Make a plan for practising your new habit

For example: at 7 a.m. I will roll out my yoga mat, put on a sports T-shirt and leggings. I will exercise for 30 minutes. Done. I thank myself and roll up the yoga mat.

What does neuroscience have to say about it?

Whenever we learn something new, new neurons form connections in our brains, and neural circuits that enable them to communicate are born. The more often we use the new neural circuit, the stronger it grows, and the easier the communication among neurons becomes. You can observe this as your new habit becomes easier and more achievable. 

By simply thinking, talking about or visualising doing your target activity during the day, you strengthen these new neural circuits, making the habit easier.

Step 4: ACTIVELY MAINTAIN THE BRIDGE - ingraining the habit

Visualisation and positive emotions

Evolution has led us to tend towards stimuli and activities that bring us pleasure and good feeling. This is something we can use to our advantage when developing a new habit.

Identify the emotions that you associate with the activity that you wish to turn into a habit (e.g. morning exercise). If the emotions are predominantly negative, it will be more advantageous to replace them with positive emotions, for the reasons mentioned above.

Example: 

• Imagine how great you will feel after exercising in the morning. Imagine the pleasant feeling of a warmed-up and stretched body.
• Imagine how cranky you could feel if you spent your morning scrolling through Instagram or other social media instead of exercising. Imagine how stiff your muscles and whole body would feel.

Action: Write down, draw, or visualise the positive emotions associated with performing the new habit. 

Sleep and bedtime routine

At the end of the day, your nervous system stores and interconnects information you have learnt and skills you tried to develop during the day - that’s neuroplasticity in action. In order for this process to work correctly, however, the body must feel relaxed and not under any sort of stress. Sleep also plays an important role. Quality sleep means that growth hormone is released while we are sleeping. Moreover, we must get enough sleep so that testosterone can be released effectively, too. Both these molecules are key to learning, memory, and forming new habits.

Action: Support your body in relaxation. Spend time doing things that help you relax, stay away from caffeine. If possible, avoid bright light such as fluorescent and LED lights in the evening.

You can also support your sleep by supplementing magnesium.

That is all, dear Sys. I have tried to approach today’s article briefly and in a practical way. I wish you lots of luck with your new habits.

Bibliography:

Clear, J. (2021) Atomic habits: Tiny changes, remarkable results: An easy & proven way to build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Toronto, Ontario: CELA.

Fogg, B.J. (2020) Tiny Habits: + the small changes that change everything. New York: Mariner Books. 

The Science of Making & Breaking Habits | Huberman Lab Podcast #53. YouTube. (2022) Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcs2PFz5q6g (Accessed: January 10, 2023).