Why It’s Hard To Change Unhealthy Habits? | Ep: 6

Why it’s hard to change your habits?  Because I believe that a built in reward system leads an internal drive to have you consistently take action. So this is what we know, what we’ve learned in the last decade, about how habits form in our brain. Every habit has three components. There’s a cue, which is the trigger for you to take action, a routine, which is the action itself, and then there’s a reward or consequence. I agree with the experts that state that most people fail to give themselves a reward for taking action on a healthy habit. Think about it most healthy habits like exercise don’t cater to instant gratification. And that’s why it’s hard to change your habits. What I would like to invite you to do by the end of this video is explore where you are today, for two reasons. One: so that you can stick to a healthy habit. And two: that hopefully we can understand more about your habits. I've have an obsession about how the brain works, "What makes us have better habits? Think better? And perform better?"  All of us can train our brains. But we need a little bit of help to get started.  For example, studies have shown that consuming a small amount of chocolate post-workout releases similar chemicals and neurotransmitters to those that will eventually be released by the workout itself. How do you make a change? Maybe the real question is, I look at life and say there's 40 to 45 percent of my life on autopilot. The question we need to ask ourselves really is, what is the motivating reward to apply to the healthy habit? We live in an instant gratification culture and the mindset that we have infinite options and limit time. We've got to remind ourselves that having a built-in reward system  is the ultimate will power. The basic question is, why do some people, suddenly lose 60 pounds and start running marathons, or after a lifetime of debt, why do they suddenly change how they spend and go on to be able to save lots of money? Research found is these are people who suddenly became very deliberate about their habits. There’s a mindset shift about understanding how habits work, because studies show that once you understand, once you know about the structure of a habit, it becomes easier to change that habit. And once you change that habit, you start making these small consistent adjustments to your day that over a year or over a decade can transform your life. Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let me know.  Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review.  Connect with me: website: www.iammattwest.com  Instagram: @iammattwest Youtube: @iammattwest