Warning! This May Be Habit Forming.

 

I’ve been reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This book is about how neurological pathways are created in our brains that form deep rooted habits. So deep in fact that they are more powerful than even memory. He talks about how some of these pathways are created unintentionally, but others we have control over. 

By understanding the components of the habit loop (cue, routine, reward), we can construct beneficial habits in our lives. Some of these habits are considered “keystone” habits because they don’t just affect one part of our lives but they bleed over into other areas.

One of these keystone habits is exercise. Research shows that people who create the habit of exercise, see improvements in other areas of their lives. For instance, they started eating better. That seems reasonable. You might think that is just a subconscious attempt to protect the investment of the exercise itself. But the test subjects also saw increased discipline and improvement in the areas of finance, job performance and the quality of their relationships.

In his book Sovereignty, Ryan Michler said that starting an exercise program was the catalyst for change in all areas of his life. He says that he believes all change needed for a better quality of life starts in the gym.

I’ve always hated going the the gym, so about three weeks ago I started working on the habit of exercise every morning in my basement. I do some body weight training in intervals for about 20 minutes. At this point, my focus is not on the results but on consistency so those neurological pathways will be formed. Later I will consider adding weights or other equipment for specific fitness goals, but now it’s all about the habit.

What habits do you need to form?