Breaking Bad Habits

The Incrementalist

Like good habits, bad habits also give you a dopamine hit. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is often called the feel-good hormone. Dopamine fires when you get the thing you crave, and when you anticipate getting that thing.

A dopamine hit is not the same as true happiness, say Dr. Jud Brewer, director of research and innovation at Brown University Mindfulness Center, a psychiatrist and an expert in mindfulness training for treating addictions. To break everyday addictions and bad habits, he recommends you step out of the reactive pattern and just be present with whatever comes up. Use your natural curiosity to learn about the habit loop while you're in it and become aware of the results of your actions.

There are 4 laws of behavior change, says author, speaker and entrepreneur James Clear. If you want to build a habit, you make it Visible, Attractive, Easy and Satisfying. If you want to stop a habit, you invert the laws. You make it Invisible, Unattractive, Difficult and Unsatisfying.

You might think you have to replace the habit with another to break it. But this is really a last resort. You can untangle the bad habit if you stay mindful, get curious, and invert the 4 laws of behavior change.

"Learn how your mind works, so you can work with it." – Dr. Jud Brewer

"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." – James Clear

Resources Cited:

• Jud Brewer - The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love - Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits
• James Clear - Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

Here's to breaking bad habits,

Dyan Williams
Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com
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