NEW HABITS, A NEW YOU

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Do you wash your face, check social media, or look at your work emails? This is how habits begin: with small, repetitive actions we do without even realizing.

Habits are a part of our daily lives; they are actions we perform regularly and often unconsciously. For example, drinking coffee in the morning, going for evening walks, or doing workout exercises.

These small, repetitive behaviors that we perform every day without much awareness actually shape a large part of our lives. From the first thing we do upon waking to the countless small decisions we make throughout the day—most of them are results of our habits. While good habits carry us forward, bad ones can subtly hold us back. So, how are habits formed, and why do they impact our lives so much?

Habits are the brain's way of making repetitive behaviors automatic to make our lives easier. The formation of a habit is a process called the “habit loop” in the literature. The steps of this process are: cue, craving, response, and reward. Let’s continue with our coffee example to explain how a behavior turns into a habit.

In the habit of drinking coffee in the morning:

The cue—the trigger that starts the habit—might be the smell of coffee when you wake up.
The craving is the brain’s desire to act upon that cue—in this case, the desire to drink coffee after smelling it.
The response is the actual action: getting up to make and drink the coffee.
The reward is the energy and pleasure the coffee gives you. Your brain reinforces the behavior by associating it with a reward, making it a habit over time. As this loop repeats, your brain automates the behavior—thus, you develop a coffee habit.

Of course, not every habit is as innocent as coffee 😊

Because habits usually start small and unconsciously, they can be hard to notice. But it’s possible to consciously form good habits and break bad ones.

James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits, says that habits are the key to major transformation. According to him, becoming just 1% better each day leads to meaningful and beautiful differences over time. So, we don’t have to make massive changes right away; small, consistent steps will take us to where we want to be.

According to the book, if we want to build good habits, we can apply these four rules:

Make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying.

Let’s say you want to build a morning exercise habit.

According to the first rule, make it obvious: keep your workout gear visible and close by as a reminder.
The second rule is to make it attractive: exercising should feel enjoyable. You could play your favorite music or work out with a friend you enjoy spending time with.
In the third step, make it easy: start small. Instead of aiming for a one-hour workout, begin with a realistic goal like 15 minutes. Over time, you can increase the duration. This way, the idea of discipline won’t scare you off 😊
The fourth step is to make it satisfying: reward yourself afterward to complete the ritual. When the brain feels satisfied, the habit becomes easier to stick with.

James Clear explains in his book how small habits can create long-term changes in our lives, supported by scientific evidence—definitely worth a read.

By starting with small steps, we can build and maintain good habits. Similarly, we can quit bad habits by making them difficult, invisible, and unrewarding. Otherwise, some negative habits may even evolve into full-blown addictions.

Because let’s admit it—our habits, whether good or bad, shape our lives. A person exists through their habits, attitudes, and responses.

While we’re on the topic, here are some examples of healthy habits. Maybe you, too, can begin a transformation in your life with these small wins: