For example, exercise for an hour every day, go to bed early and get up early, and practice writing for half an hour every day. For various reasons, if you don't persist, the result is expected.
Try micro-habits. Micro-habits are incredibly small and meaningless repetitive positive behaviors. As the subtitle of this book says: self-management rules that are too simple to fail. The concept of micro-habit was put forward by Stephen Gass, who, like most ordinary people, was dissatisfied with the present situation of life and avoided change. Because he wanted to make his life more exciting, he learned a lesson from his painful experience and was determined to change. After 65,438+00 years of continuous exploration, from a scientific point of view, he has developed a micro-habit: a self-management rule that is too simple to fail.
Micro Habits is not only a manual to teach you to cultivate healthy habits permanently, but also a guide to self-control. This book tells about the process of forming habits, brain, willpower and motivation, and the relationship between these factors. Eight steps teach you how to establish micro-habits, and what is the effect after establishment?
A study by Duke University shows that 45% of our behaviors come from habits. For example, every day in our life, we are used to getting up early to brush our teeth and wash our faces every day, and we will be full of energy and energy every day. I am used to reading 1 hour every morning, and I will read 365 hours more every year. If most people read 300 words per minute, they will read 6.57 million more words every year, which is equivalent to reading 65.7 books and 65,438+million words every year. This is what most people can't do. And this excellent habit can not be established at once, and it needs to be shaped through long-term repetition.
Let's first understand how habits work in our brains.
Its working mechanism is as follows: once a neural pathway established by a habit is triggered by an idea or an external signal, the brain will continue to discharge along this neural pathway, and then you will have a strong desire to carry out this habit.
For example, if you brush your teeth and wash your face as soon as you wake up every day, there will be a neural pathway associated with the behavior of brushing your teeth and washing your face. This "brush your teeth and wash your face" neuron will discharge, and then you will involuntarily walk over and brush your teeth and wash your face like a zombie. This kind of behavior doesn't need thinking at all. This is the magic of having habits. With the deep-rooted habits, the neural pathways related to it will become thicker and stronger.
The cultivation of habits needs to be repeated, and the most important thing about micro-habits is motivation and willpower. If we really want to do something, we don't need willpower to force us to do it. The problem is that some habits are against human nature or we are tired or sick, so it is difficult for us to do it by motivation. Only when the body and mind have enough energy and are not strongly tempted can we rely on motivation to complete these habits.
For some people, getting up early in winter is very sleepy. At this moment, we love each other and nothing can separate us. There are no ideas or inspirational quotes that can make us get up at once, and we have no reason and motivation to leave our dear crib, just want to be so gentle with our dear.
It is difficult for us to get up if we only rely on motivation. On the contrary, it is easy to get up if you use willpower. Willpower is not endless. A study on self-control found that people who make difficult decisions on the same day are more likely to succumb to temptation later.
Then the habit formed by motivation will be invalid, while micro-habit is to implement trivial behavior with very little willpower.
Make very small goals or plans in micro-habits, so that you have enough motivation or willpower to carry them out. If you want to do push-ups now, two little people will appear in your mind, the devil and the angel. The devil will say: no, I want to play games now. Angels will say: do it now, it's simple. When hesitating, you can make a gesture of "get down" first. When you take the first step, you are in motion, as the law of motion in physics shows: once you start, it is difficult to stop. Let's start your first micro habit.
Micro-habits take eight steps:
How long does it take to develop micro-habits?
2 1 day diet, 2 1 day calligraphy crash, you must have heard of it or seen it somewhere. It is a common fallacy that you can develop laws in 2 1 day. The fallacy of "2 1 day" originated from Maxwell Malc, a plastic surgeon. Dr. Mark found that amputees need about 265,438+0 days to adapt to the fact that they are physically disabled, so he thinks that 265,438+0 days is the length of time for people to adapt to any life change.
As for the time required for habitual behavior, the most cited research was published in the European Journal of Social Psychology in 2009, and the conclusion is that the time required for different behaviors varies greatly, ranging from 18 days to 254 days. It depends on habits and individuals. It takes an average of 66 days to turn behavior into habit.
Micro-habit is an incredible behavior, with no time limit and no time limit.
What is the effect of developing micro-habits?
We will no longer be intimidated by grand goals and plans, nor will we feel anxious and guilty because we have not achieved our goals. The other is the strengthening of willpower, which requires endurance, so repetitive tasks are an ideal way to strengthen willpower.
?
The hardest part is actually in the beginning Start with a small step and stick to it, and you will achieve unexpected success. As the saying goes, "A single spark can start a prairie fire", and I believe that starting a prairie fire will make your life more exciting.