Want to lose weight, quit fast food, exercise more, and pay more attention to health? These are common resolutions we often set but struggle to achieve. Yoga classes don’t fit our schedule, we binge-watch series while snacking, and our friends are unavailable for soccer. Fast food is just so convenient…

But then, after a while, we find ourselves setting the same resolutions again, only to fail once more.

Of course, we’re not alone in making excuses for our failures while still being ready to start anew. If we were to analyze this procrastination behavior scientifically, we’d find that every human has an 'Affective Forecasting' program installed in their brain. This program allows us to predict our feelings about future events, but it’s based solely on our personal biases (and often favors ourselves). Imagining that if we could lose weight, get fit, or live a better life feels wonderful, creating a moment filled with positive emotions. However, when it comes time to act, the effort to change habits and routines is fraught with difficulty and lacks the joy we felt while dreaming. Thus, we accept failure but never stop dreaming for the reasons mentioned.

But don’t lose hope! We can overcome our habits if we understand how our brains work. Simply put, habits are things we do without thinking or weighing options; neural connections operate automatically without analytical thought. However, when we decide to lose weight, we must analyze that eating French fries isn’t good, that we should reduce carbs, and avoid too much sugar, etc. This all uses the reasoning part of our brain, not the part that governs habits. Therefore, the healthy behaviors we aspire to never really sink into those neural pathways. And if one day our emotions override reason, everything can come crashing down!

The straightforward advice is Don’t Think, Just Do. This means don’t think, don’t feel, don’t look for reasons—just do it! Eventually, your brain will reset itself to accommodate this. However, this concept is so abstract that it can lead to failure again. So, I’d like to add methods from B.J. Fogg, a professor specializing in human behavior theory, and Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who shares methods for changing habits in his books. I believe these methods could serve as a compromise between the brain and the heart.

3 Steps to Start New Habits

Step 1: Small, Simple, Achievable

Goals like wanting to lose weight, exercise, or eat healthier are too abstract. They are broad enough that we constantly have to think about what to do. But if we specify, for example, that we absolutely won’t eat French fries, won’t take the escalator, must eat breakfast, and will run around the park twice, then achieving these goals becomes much easier.

Step 2: Add a Little More

Once the small goals are in place, add some stimulation with new challenges that build on existing behaviors. For instance, if you can run around the park twice, challenge yourself to run for another 10 minutes. If you can run two laps, try walking to the nearby supermarket to buy ingredients for a healthy breakfast. Your brain will get addicted to this stimulation and will encourage you to keep going.

Step 3: Must Achieve in 3 Days or 7 Days

Quickly make these behaviors 'easy' within the first week of starting, so that your brain can respond to the conditions set and smoothly incorporate them as new habits without falling back into previous failures.

 

Thank you for the information from www.thaihealth.or.th