I believe through both observation and personal experience of which I’ll call “habit loops,” and define much of the way we live and consist of three main parts. First is the ‘cue’, which is the trigger from the environment that tells your brain to go into autopilot and which personal ‘habit’ to use. Next is the ‘routine’, which is the mental or physical action we take whenever presented with the cue. And lastly is the ‘reward’ which is what we get from the habit that fulfills a craving in our brains.
When the pattern of ‘cue-routine-reward’ gets repeated over a span of time – it becomes more and more automatic. This is because the more we repeat a routine, the more it gets hard-wired into our brains. In neuroscience, this is known as ‘long-term potentiation’. This is natural and how God created us. Otherwise, we would essentially shut down with mental exhaustion if our brains were perpetually in high gear to perform basic tasks endlessly without the benefit of habit loops. There is a little oval the size of a walnut in our brain called the Basal Ganglia, which essentially stores our habits and habit loops for functional wellness.
The process in which the brain converts a series of actions into a routine is known as ‘chunking’. This is the beginning of how habits and cravings form. There are hundreds of behavioral chunks that we rely on every day. Some are simple, such as putting toothpaste on a toothbrush, putting on our socks, or even how we fold our socks. We perform these functions over and over with very little thought or brain power. On the same hand, some chunks can become so complex that it is a miracle that such a small part of the brain can produce such powerful responses.
Let’s take, for example, backing a car out of the driveway. When we are first learning to drive, it requires a good dose of concentration (brain power) just to back a car out of the garage, and for good reason! We had to open the garage, unlock the car door, adjust the seat, insert the key in the ignition, turn the key clockwise, adjust the mirrors and discern the how near or far objects really were, putting our foot on the brake; moving the gear shift into reverse, removing our foot from the brake, mentally gauging our distances and obstacles such as the mailbox and trash cans while keeping the wheels aligned, monitoring for oncoming traffic all while applying slight pressure to the gas pedal and brake. However, all of these responses within a relatively short amount of time require hardly any thought all.
This routine occurs through the dynamic and power of repetition and the brain creating a habit loop. Millions of people perform this function every morning unthinkingly. As soon as we grab the car keys, our basal ganglia kicks in – identifying the associated habits stored in our brains in regard to backing out a vehicle. Once that habit starts unfolding, our grey matter, which is closer to the cranial surface, is free to quiet itself or chase other creative and complex thoughts. Habits occur because our brains are constantly looking for ways to save effort. Left to its own devises, the brain will try to make any routine a habit loop because habits allow our minds to ramp down and adjust.
This type of brain efficiency is biologically necessary because it requires less room and allows for a smaller head, which makes childbirth easier, and infant/mother mortality less likely. It also allows us to quit thinking about basic behaviors and routines such as walking and choosing what to eat so we can invest time inventing spears, irrigation systems, and eventually airplanes and video games. But conserving mental effort is a double edge sword because if our brains power down at the wrong moment, we might fail to notice something important – such as an oncoming speeding car as we back out of the driveway! (I believe that the Lord is addressing our natural and spiritual blind spots) Our natural propensity to create and store habits is biologically necessary and a tremendous blessing when stewarded well. It can also be a curse when abused for self-serving motives within the temptations of a corrupted world.
By better understanding our habit loops, we can more easily disrupt vicious cycles and rewire our brains to new habits the Lord and reflect Spirit led purpose. For example, let’s take something simple or generic and say that every day after dinner, you sit on your couch to watch TV while eating a carton of ice cream or munching a bag of chips. It’s a nasty habit – and it’s probably the reason why folks struggle with weight gain. Yet, no matter how hard you try to break the habit, you can’t seem to change it. Why is something seemingly so simple as eating habits so difficult to overcome in lieu of our bodies being the temple that stewards the Lord’s Spirit?
The primary goal to victory over adverse or even destructive habits is to identify our habit loops. What are the routine(s) that we desire to change? What are the cues triggering us to fall or fail within the routine? And what are the rewards we are getting as a result of that routine? By better discerning and understanding the cycle of “cue-routine-reward” we can more easily modify our adverse or unhealthy behaviors.
Find the cue.
A cue is a stimulus from your environment that triggers us into a particular routine. Often, we have trouble identifying cues because there is so much unconscious information that motivates our habits. For example, do you eat dinner at a certain time each day because you are hungry? Or, is it because the clock says 6:00 PM? Maybe, it’s because your children start asking for dinner? Is it routine because you’re home from work, and that’s just when your dinner routine is supposed to begin? There are different categories of habitual cues that often trigger and lead to unwanted habit loops.
Location – Where are you when your habit loops are triggered?
Time – What time of the day is it?
Mood – What’s your emotional state?
Thoughts – What are you thinking?
People around you – Who is around you when you act out these habits?
Immediately preceding action – What do you do right before the habit starts?
Once we understand the cues that trigger our habit loops, we can use that insight to modify or completely change our behaviors. For example, say you’re an alcoholic whose habits are triggered by your location (party, bar, or event) or the people you are with (friends who like drinking as a social crutch). Or, it may be a time of the day which is common for those c who can drink alone. One way you can try to disrupt your habit loop is by avoiding times of the day, places, or people that motivate you to drink. If pornography is your habit, you must break the cue or trigger of a particular time, location, or internet site. NOTE: We must understand that any pain caused by an event or habit in our daily lives will always or naturally seek various forms of pleasure to relieve that particular inner pain. We see this clearly in the act of overeating. The first step is to recognize the trigger or cue.
Try out different rewards.
Once you find the cue that triggers your behavior, you can experiment with different rewards to see what your brain is actually craving. Let’s go back to the example of eating ice cream or chips (foods that lead to being overweight) while watching TV. By trying out different rewards, we can recognize what it is we get from the activity. Are we eating ice cream or chips because we’re hungry? Or, are we just bored due to inactivity, and it’s a way to pass the time? Maybe, it’s something we do to socialize with family or friends?
There are a myriad of reasons we may construct a certain habit, but it’s not always clear why we do the things we do. Regardless, we choose by the gift of free choice to enter into a routine that serves a particular or false need in our life. By experimenting with different rewards, you can discover what it is you are really getting out of your routine and find a substitute or healthy habit that is spirit led.
It may take a couple of weeks before you discover what it is your brain is craving. People with addictive or compulsive behavior patterns already know what their cravings are (e.g., drugs, alcohol, pornography, gluttony, pattern gossip, etc.) Maybe, the first day you experiment with eating a salad, but afterwards, you still feel an urge for ice cream or chips. This clearly points out that the reward you’re getting is probably not related to hunger but to drive within the brain designed to mimic hunger to fulfill the reward mechanism.
You might try socializing with the family in a different way, such as playing a game together instead of eating ice cream together. After this, you find that your craving for ice cream goes away. If that’s the case, your routine of “eating ice cream” may be a result of your desire to connect more on a deeper level with your family. This is just one very simplistic or generic example for reference, but hopefully, you get the idea. People do things for many different reasons, but experimenting with different rewards can help us find what it is our brains actually want fulfilled. If we understand that, we can replace our old habit loops with new habit loops that still fulfill the rewards we want and bring glory to God, our personal witness, and our personal wellness – both naturally and spiritually.
Make a plan to change adverse habit loops.
Once you identify the “cue-routine-reward” behind your habit loops, it becomes much easier to make a plan on how to change them.
Psychologists have found compelling research that making a plan to act in a certain way at a certain time and place makes it much more likely that we will commit to new and healthy behaviors. These are called ‘implementation intentions’. The basic idea is to form an “if-then plan” to help instill new habits. Write down and repeat your plan, such as, “If situation X arises, I will perform response Y.” X refers to the cue from your environment. Y refers to the new routine you want to replace with the old routine.
Habits have become the destiny of many with adverse effects. These habits can affect those closest to us as well as society. Habit loops can be ignored, changed, or replaced. But it is also true that once the unhealthy habit loop is established and a habit emerges, your brain stops fully participating in healthy or spirit led decision-making. Unless you deliberately recognize, engage, and fight a habit — unless you insert new responses to cues and rewards — the old pattern(s) will unfold automatically.
The Lord is all about your victory. Victory over death and the grave was accomplished at the cross, and this is our eternal “reward.” However, the Lord also desires personal victory in our everyday life, which is a composite of daily choices. These daily choices are birthed within a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit and an honest perception of who we really are and where God would have us. We should understand that our perception of what is right may not be God’s! Our willingness to be holy rolls off our lips so easily, but yet our minds and eventual actions so easily deceive us. The truth is that we all have created adverse, unhealthy, as well as ungodly habit loops, and once patterned in our brains , they will never go away and will always be there. In other words, once hard-wired, they never disappear. The good news in Jesus Christ is that new and godly habit loops can transpose or overlay the old ones in our brains or consciousness. When we recognize the cue or trigger for a bad response or choice , we can choose to be led by the Spirit to respond in a new way. Trust me, it will not take long before this becomes our new expression and perception of how others see us. If we’ll only consistent for a few weeks, our resolve will become the resolution of others! This is the power and witness of our testimony.
dannykorakas 