养成新习惯的五个秘诀
Five tips to get a new habit to stick (BBC)
I’ve always been a dedicated and compliant tooth brusher but I was never really encouraged to floss.
A few years ago, I went to see my dentist and he said to me, “Listen, your teeth are fine but you need to start flossing.” “OK.” I said. “No problem. How hard can flossing be? “I got all the kits, I bought all the tape, the sticks, everything.
Day one, I did it. Day two, I did it. Day three, I didn’t do it.
And then the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months and I was back at my dentist.
Again, he told me I needed to floss.
Some nights I did, some nights I didn’t, there were so many excuses.
“I’m tired.” “It’s boring.” “I’m going to punch myself in the face again by accident.”. But now I’m a dedicated flosser.
So, what changed?
Sean Covey, author of the best-selling book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People “once said, “Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us. We become what we repeatedly do. “Some of these habits are helpful and healthy and some not so good, but what they all have in common is that we’re unaware we’re doing them because they become automatic and repetitive.
Our habits combine like steps on a journey in life.
They determine our direction and that’s pretty scary considering most of the time we’re not really consciously in control of them.
So why are habits so difficult to break and new ones so difficult to make?
Neuroscience tells us our brains set up things called habit loops.
These habit loops consist of three stages.
Stage one is a cue.
This is a trigger-it could be from your external environment or your internal environment-for example, your emotional state.
Stage two is a routine behavior.
It’s the action you take in response to that cue.
Stage three is the reward, so the release of dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure.
Because you’ve had that release of dopamine which has made you feel good, you’re more likely to repeat that behavior in response to the cue next time and that’s why a habit is hard to break and hard to make because those neural connections are strong.
But the good news is nothing’s set in stone.
Breaking old habits and making new one we can be done, but it takes an extraordinary amount of self-awareness and effort.
So here are some top tips to help you through it and it may even save your gums at the same time.
It worked for me.
Tip one, find your motivation.
Why do you want to change? What are the benefits?
What are the repercussions if you don’t change that habit?
And do you want those repercussions?
Write them down and read them often.
Tip two, be specific.
What exactly do you want to achieve and how are you going to do it?
Make space and time in your diary to put the effort towards changing that habit.
Take practical steps that will help you break that cycle of cue and response.
Tip three, small steps are better than giant leaps.
Try the 1% idea where each day you improve or change something by 1%.
That way you start to see progress and you’re not put off by failure.
Tip four, don’t stop when you’re on a roll and celebrate your success.
Keep the momentum of that new habit going, however small it is.
The continuous nature of changing something about your behavior will signal to your brain that this is an important change and one that you need to continue.
Chart your progress and celebrate your achievements with a treat so you still get that dopamine hit.
Tip five, be patient.
A study in 2009 showed that on average it takes 66days to form a new habit-with some easier habits being formed in 18 days and some harder ones being formed in 254 days.
So changing habits can change your life.
I think that once you notice a habit is unhelpful and you know why you want to change it then really, the rest is a piece of cake.
So good luck, go forth and break some habits.
我一直是一个专注且顺从的用牙刷者，但从来没有人真正鼓励我用牙线。
几年前，我去看牙医，他对我说：“听着，你的牙齿很好，但你需要开始用牙线。”“好的。”我说。“没问题。用牙线能有多难？”我买了成套的用品，我买了牙线棒、牙签，都买了。
第一天，我做到了。第二天，我做了。第三天，我没有做到。
然后几天变成了几周，几周变成了几个月，我又回到了牙医那里。
他又一次告诉我需要用牙线。
有些晚上我做了，有些晚上我没有，有那么多借口。
“我累了。”“很无聊。”“我会不小心再打到自己的脸。”。但现在我成了一个敬业的牙线者。
那么，发生了什么变化？
畅销书《高效能人士的七个习惯》的作者史蒂芬·柯维曾说过，“根据它们是什么，我们的习惯要么会成就我们，要么会破坏我们。我们会成为我们反复做的结果。”其中一些习惯是有益的、健康的，也有一些不那么好，但它们的共同点是，我们没有意识到我们在做它们，因为它们会变得自动和重复。
我们的习惯结合在一起，就像人生旅程中的每一步。
它们决定了我们的方向，考虑到大多数时候我们并没有真正有意识地控制它们，这非常可怕。
那么，为什么习惯如此难以打破，新习惯如此难以养成呢？
神经科学告诉我们的大脑建立了一种叫做习惯循环的东西。
这些习惯循环由三个阶段组成。
第一阶段是设置一个提示。
这是一个触发因素，它可能来自你的外部环境或内部环境，例如你的情绪状态。
第二阶段是常规行为。
这是你对提示的反应。
第三阶段是奖励，因此大脑中多巴胺的释放，多巴胺是一种与愉悦感相关的神经递质。
因为你已经释放了多巴胺，这让你感觉良好，下次你更有可能重复这种行为来回应提示，这就是为什么一个习惯很难打破，也很难养成，因为这些神经联系很强。
但好消息是没有什么是板上钉钉的。
打破旧习惯和养成新习惯是可以做到的，但这需要非凡的自我意识和努力。
因此，这里有一些小贴士可以帮助你度过难关，甚至可以同时拯救你的牙龈。
它对我有效。
技巧一：找到你的动力。
你为什么要改变？有什么好处？
如果你不改变这个习惯会有什么影响？
你想要这些反响吗？
把它们写下来并经常读。
技巧二：要具体。
你到底想实现什么？你将如何实现？
在你的日记中留出空间和时间，努力改变这个习惯。
采取切实可行的步骤，帮助你打破提示和反应的循环。
技巧三：小步比大步好。
试试1%的想法，每天你都会提高或改变1%。
这样你就开始看到进步，而不会因为失败而气馁。
技巧四：当你情绪高涨时，不要停下来，庆祝你的成功。
保持这种新习惯的势头，不管它有多小。
改变行为的持续性会向你的大脑发出信号，表明这是一个重要的改变，你需要继续下去。
记录你的进步，用一种奖励来庆祝你的成就，这样你仍然会得到多巴胺的刺激。
技巧五：要有耐心。
2009年的一项研究表明，养成一个新习惯平均需要66天，有些更容易的习惯需要18天才能养成，有些更难的习惯需要254天才能养成。
所以改变习惯可以改变你的生活。
我认为，一旦你注意到一个习惯是无益的，并且你知道为什么要改变它，那么真的，剩下的就是小菜一碟。
所以祝你好运，去改掉一些习惯吧。
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