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Pernicious habits
Bad habits spoil our lives, but as we would not want to change much, everything remains the same as it was. Why is this happening?
The thing is that our brain is a set of mechanisms that prevent us to get rid of unwanted habits us.
Your brain thinks that your future "I" - is another man
Imagine early in the morning you have to take the exam, but you are late continue to look your favorite TV series.
Consciously you understand what goes to their own detriment. However, subconsciously you always think of yourself in the future, how about the other person. And this man can cope with all the consequences.
Brain imaging studies have shown that when we think about ourselves and about other people, we have activated different parts of the brain. However, when people are asked to imagine themselves in the future, it activates the part of the brain that is designed to "other».
In other words, if someone asks you to imagine yourself in 20 years, your brain tries to imagine a stranger.
For this reason, it is sometimes so difficult to correct any deficiencies in your life. Why would you give up one more piece of cake to help some unknown version of yourself?
It takes 10 weeks to get a useful habit
Imagine that you have a few habits from which you want to give, and you decide to buy some good habits, because they believed that the relationship can be replaced by another dependency. You enroll in a gym and plan to visit him three times a week to control their cravings.
So how much effort you need to sport become your lifestyle?
According to the study, the habit is formed within 66 days or 10 weeks, while the behavior will not be automatic.
This is more than two months, during which time any changes in your daily may disrupt the process. And if you are, let's not go to the gym a week due to illness or foot injury, you broke up with a new habit. And in those moments we often return to old habits that have been formed by long repetitions.
The thing is that the brain is set up on the effectiveness and thoughtless habits effective. Repeated episodes help us in everyday life, using less energy. This means that you can drive half asleep, and repeat everyday stuff over and over again.
However, to quit the habit, we need a lot more energy. If you want to change the routine, your previous automatic, effortless decisions should be made by a conscious effort. And it will be quite tiring!
3. Your willpower - it's a limited resource
Acquire new habits not only interfere with uncontrollable circumstances, but your own lack of motivation.
Scientists have found that exercise our willpower in one case, may complicate its use in another. This is called the depletion of willpower.
For example, in one study, researchers asked one group of students remember the two-digit number, and another - seven-digit. Then they offered to both groups to choose between a cake and fruit salad. Interestingly, the group that remembers seven-digit number, twice as likely to chose the cake. Simple task of remembering long number was enough to reduce their willpower.
Was carried out a similar study in the opposite direction. Volunteers showed a plate of freshly baked cookies and a plate of radishes. Half offered cookies and the other half - radishes. Then they were asked to perform a complex geometry task. Those who were told to choose radishes, threw the task in 8 minutes, while those who have offered cookies, solved the problem 19 minutes.
Despite the fact that the participants did not use physical effort required resisting the urge to eat cookies, draining willpower participants.
4. Your brain believes that the success of an excuse for self-indulgence
In one study, researchers gathered a group of people sitting on a diet, and started work on their self-control. They divided the participants into two groups and began to praise the volunteers from the first group for their progress in achieving your ideal weight. The second group of participants is not praised.
Then all the volunteers offered a choice of apple or chocolate bar for participation in the study. As a result, 85 percent of those who are reminded of their success, chocolate chosen, unlike 58 percent of people in the other group. In other words, the recognition of their success provoked failure.
Would not it be terrible if it was only once. However, as a rule, one mistake leads to a whole series of defeats.
So, if you are successful dieting for a long time, you probably do yourself a favor once, and it will give rise to harmful behavior.
5. We prefer the bad habits this failure
Perhaps you're familiar with the type of people that seem designed fails. Such a personality disorder called masochism, and according to the theory, it arises from the fact that we accept one type of failure for fear of suffering from a big dip.
So lonely shy guy would prefer never to approach a strange girl, instead of risk to talk to her and hear failure.
Now imagine that you do not retain any one job because that's always late.
You have really strong motivation to continue to be late, since it does not allow others to know that you are incompetent. Yes, you are unemployed, but you have a bad habit, which can shift the blame to create the illusion that you would have succeeded if it had not been late.
Thus, bad habits to protect your self-esteem, making you fail. And although your consciousness accuses you that you do not throw a bad habit, your subconscious is doing everything to prevent this, as it is self-indulgence, and not trying to make you better.
©
The thing is that our brain is a set of mechanisms that prevent us to get rid of unwanted habits us.
Your brain thinks that your future "I" - is another man
Imagine early in the morning you have to take the exam, but you are late continue to look your favorite TV series.
Consciously you understand what goes to their own detriment. However, subconsciously you always think of yourself in the future, how about the other person. And this man can cope with all the consequences.
Brain imaging studies have shown that when we think about ourselves and about other people, we have activated different parts of the brain. However, when people are asked to imagine themselves in the future, it activates the part of the brain that is designed to "other».
In other words, if someone asks you to imagine yourself in 20 years, your brain tries to imagine a stranger.
For this reason, it is sometimes so difficult to correct any deficiencies in your life. Why would you give up one more piece of cake to help some unknown version of yourself?
It takes 10 weeks to get a useful habit
Imagine that you have a few habits from which you want to give, and you decide to buy some good habits, because they believed that the relationship can be replaced by another dependency. You enroll in a gym and plan to visit him three times a week to control their cravings.
So how much effort you need to sport become your lifestyle?
According to the study, the habit is formed within 66 days or 10 weeks, while the behavior will not be automatic.
This is more than two months, during which time any changes in your daily may disrupt the process. And if you are, let's not go to the gym a week due to illness or foot injury, you broke up with a new habit. And in those moments we often return to old habits that have been formed by long repetitions.
The thing is that the brain is set up on the effectiveness and thoughtless habits effective. Repeated episodes help us in everyday life, using less energy. This means that you can drive half asleep, and repeat everyday stuff over and over again.
However, to quit the habit, we need a lot more energy. If you want to change the routine, your previous automatic, effortless decisions should be made by a conscious effort. And it will be quite tiring!
3. Your willpower - it's a limited resource
Acquire new habits not only interfere with uncontrollable circumstances, but your own lack of motivation.
Scientists have found that exercise our willpower in one case, may complicate its use in another. This is called the depletion of willpower.
For example, in one study, researchers asked one group of students remember the two-digit number, and another - seven-digit. Then they offered to both groups to choose between a cake and fruit salad. Interestingly, the group that remembers seven-digit number, twice as likely to chose the cake. Simple task of remembering long number was enough to reduce their willpower.
Was carried out a similar study in the opposite direction. Volunteers showed a plate of freshly baked cookies and a plate of radishes. Half offered cookies and the other half - radishes. Then they were asked to perform a complex geometry task. Those who were told to choose radishes, threw the task in 8 minutes, while those who have offered cookies, solved the problem 19 minutes.
Despite the fact that the participants did not use physical effort required resisting the urge to eat cookies, draining willpower participants.
4. Your brain believes that the success of an excuse for self-indulgence
In one study, researchers gathered a group of people sitting on a diet, and started work on their self-control. They divided the participants into two groups and began to praise the volunteers from the first group for their progress in achieving your ideal weight. The second group of participants is not praised.
Then all the volunteers offered a choice of apple or chocolate bar for participation in the study. As a result, 85 percent of those who are reminded of their success, chocolate chosen, unlike 58 percent of people in the other group. In other words, the recognition of their success provoked failure.
Would not it be terrible if it was only once. However, as a rule, one mistake leads to a whole series of defeats.
So, if you are successful dieting for a long time, you probably do yourself a favor once, and it will give rise to harmful behavior.
5. We prefer the bad habits this failure
Perhaps you're familiar with the type of people that seem designed fails. Such a personality disorder called masochism, and according to the theory, it arises from the fact that we accept one type of failure for fear of suffering from a big dip.
So lonely shy guy would prefer never to approach a strange girl, instead of risk to talk to her and hear failure.
Now imagine that you do not retain any one job because that's always late.
You have really strong motivation to continue to be late, since it does not allow others to know that you are incompetent. Yes, you are unemployed, but you have a bad habit, which can shift the blame to create the illusion that you would have succeeded if it had not been late.
Thus, bad habits to protect your self-esteem, making you fail. And although your consciousness accuses you that you do not throw a bad habit, your subconscious is doing everything to prevent this, as it is self-indulgence, and not trying to make you better.
©
