Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time
Summary
TLDRThe script explores the challenge of personal change by comparing the brain to a jungle with established paths representing habits. It explains the difference between routines, which are deliberate and analytical, and habits, which are automatic and triggered by context. To instigate change, the script advises focusing on small, manageable actions that can gradually become habits, making the process less about willpower and more about creating pleasurable, repeatable behaviors. It emphasizes that change is a gradual direction rather than an immediate destination, and introduces a habit journal designed to support individuals on their journey towards self-improvement.
Takeaways
- 🌟 There's often a gap between who we are and who we aspire to be, with a desire to achieve more but a tendency to fall back into old habits.
- 🏋️♂️ Change can seem daunting because it requires becoming more consistent, disciplined, and exerting more effort, which can be challenging to sustain.
- 🤯 The belief that failure is entirely one's own fault is a common narrative, but understanding the difficulty of change can make it more manageable.
- 🌴 The brain is likened to a jungle, where actions create paths that become easier to traverse with repetition, forming habits that are hard to break.
- 🔄 Routines are deliberate sequences of actions that can eventually turn into habits, which are automatic responses to triggers without conscious thought.
- 🔑 Habits are initiated by triggers, which can be simple cues or complex situations that signal the brain to start a behavior.
- 👶 The 'toddler' within us responds to immediate desires and rewards, often leading us down familiar paths of habit without considering long-term goals.
- 🛠️ Small changes are more effective for building new habits than large, unsustainable efforts, as they are easier to integrate into our daily lives.
- 📈 The process of habit formation involves creating a routine with clear triggers and repeating the action regularly until it becomes automatic.
- 🎉 Making new behaviors pleasurable can increase the likelihood of them becoming habits, by associating the action with enjoyment or rewards.
- ⏳ The time it takes to form a new habit varies widely, from 15 to 250 days, depending on various factors including the individual and the behavior itself.
- 📘 Kurzgesagt offers a habit journal to help track and guide the process of habit formation, providing a structured approach to personal change.
Q & A
What is the gap described between the person you are and the person you wish to be?
-The gap refers to the difference between your current self and the ideal self you aspire to become, which includes both small daily actions and big life achievements such as working out regularly, eating healthily, learning a language, or pursuing hobbies.
Why does it seem that to achieve goals, one must become a different person?
-Achieving goals often requires becoming more consistent, putting in more effort, and developing discipline and willpower, which may seem like the traits of a different, more successful person.
What does the script suggest as a reason for the difficulty in maintaining new behaviors?
-The difficulty in maintaining new behaviors is attributed to the established 'brain highways' that make it easy and comfortable to continue doing what we have always done, making change hard.
How does the script describe the process of making a decision in the brain as a 'jungle'?
-The brain is likened to a jungle where making decisions and taking actions creates paths. The more frequently an action is taken, the more pronounced the path, eventually turning into a highway that is effortless to traverse.
What is the difference between routines and habits as described in the script?
-Routines are sequences of actions carried out the same way due to their past success, executed consciously and analytically. Habits, on the other hand, are actions performed without thought, set in motion by triggers and managed by an 'impulsive toddler' within us.
How can routines turn into habits?
-Routines can turn into habits when they are repeated often enough that the brain starts the behavior automatically upon encountering the associated triggers, making the action feel rewarding and effortless.
What role do triggers play in forming habits?
-Triggers are context cues that signal the brain to start a behavior or action. They are crucial in forming habits as they initiate the automatic response that leads to the habitual action.
Why is it suggested to focus on small changes rather than big ones when building a habit?
-Small changes are more manageable and require less willpower, making them easier to integrate into daily life. Over time, these small changes can accumulate to significant improvements.
What is the suggested method to make a new action more enjoyable and likely to be repeated?
-The method involves making the action itself more pleasurable, such as associating it with a favorite activity, rather than relying solely on external rewards.
How long does it typically take for a new habit to form according to the script?
-The time it takes for a new habit to form can vary widely, ranging from 15 to 250 days, depending on various factors including the individual's personality, stress levels, and the nature of the behavior.
What is the purpose of the habit journal mentioned in the script?
-The habit journal is designed to help individuals track their progress in forming new habits. It includes a tutorial to guide users through the process and offers reflections and examples to keep the journey engaging.
Outlines
🌿 Understanding the Challenge of Change
This paragraph discusses the universal struggle of personal growth and the gap between current and desired self. It likens the brain to a jungle, where actions create paths that become easier with repetition, forming habits. The text explains that change is difficult due to the established 'highways' in our brains, which represent ingrained behaviors. It distinguishes between routines, which are consciously planned actions, and habits, which are automatic responses triggered by context cues. The paragraph emphasizes the role of the 'wise planner' for deliberate actions and the 'impulsive toddler' for habitual behaviors, suggesting that habits are formed by repeated actions that our brains find rewarding.
🏋️♂️ Building New Habits for Lasting Change
The second paragraph focuses on the process of habit formation and how to leverage our brain's energy-saving mechanisms to introduce new behaviors. It suggests starting with small, manageable actions and creating clear triggers to initiate these actions effortlessly. The importance of making the new behavior pleasurable and the variability in the time it takes to establish a habit are highlighted. The paragraph emphasizes the need for consistency and the gradual transition from a routine to a habit, noting that while the process is simple, it requires ongoing effort and time to achieve lasting change.
📔 Supporting Change with a Habit Journal
The final paragraph introduces a habit journal created by the authors to support the process of change. It describes the journal as a tool for tracking progress and reflecting on the habit-building journey. The journal includes a tutorial section to guide users through the initial stages of habit formation and offers examples, science breaks, and reflections to maintain interest. The paragraph also mentions the physical qualities of the journal, such as its cloth-bound cover and high-quality paper, positioning it as a companion for personal growth, regardless of the scale of the change being pursued.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡gap
💡discipline
💡habit
💡routine
💡trigger
💡change
💡jungle
💡energy
💡planner
💡toddler
💡pleasurable
Highlights
Most people experience a gap between their current self and their ideal self, with a desire to achieve more but often falling back into old habits.
Achieving goals often seems to require a transformation into a more disciplined and consistent person, which can be difficult to maintain.
The 'success and hustle' narrative can lead to self-blame for failures, but understanding the difficulty of change can alleviate frustration.
The brain is likened to a jungle, where actions create paths that become easier to traverse with repetition, forming habits.
Routines are deliberate sequences of actions that can eventually turn into habits, which are automatic and require less mental effort.
Habits are triggered by context cues and are executed without conscious thought, making them feel like autopilot behaviors.
The 'toddler' within represents impulsive desires that seek immediate rewards, often leading to the formation of habits.
Both the 'wise planner' and the 'toddler' are essential, working together to manage daily life and complex mental challenges.
To introduce new behaviors, start with small, manageable actions and use triggers to initiate them effortlessly.
Creating a routine with clear triggers can help establish a habit, making the action feel like a natural part of the day.
Making new actions pleasurable can increase the likelihood of them becoming habits, by associating them with positive experiences.
The time it takes to establish a habit varies widely, ranging from 15 to 250 days, and depends on various factors.
Starting a new habit is easy, but consistency is the challenge; the process gets easier over time.
Change is a direction rather than a destination, emphasizing the importance of the journey rather than the end goal.
The transcript introduces a habit journal designed to track progress and provide guidance on forming new habits.
The habit journal includes a tutorial, examples, and reflections to support and maintain interest in the habit-forming process.
Supporting Kurzgesagt by purchasing their habit journal or other products helps the channel continue its mission.
Transcripts
If you are like most people, there is a gap between the person you are and the person you
wish to be. There are little things you think you should do and big things you ought to achieve.
From working out regularly, eating healthily, learning a language, working on your novel,
reading more or simply actually doing your hobby instead of browsing reddit.
But it sometimes seems that to achieve your goals, you have to become a different
person. Someone who is consistent, puts in more effort, has discipline and willpower.
Maybe you have tried your hardest to be like that. And it worked! For a while. Until you
find yourself slipping back into your old ways. In the end, you always seem to fail.
And with every failed attempt, you become more and more frustrated and annoyed with yourself.
If you believe “success and hustle” internet, it is all your own fault:
if you don't succeed, you just didn’t want it enough and the failure is all you. But change
is actually hard. And as with most things in life, understanding why makes things easier.
The Jungle
Imagine your brain as a lush and dense jungle. Moving through it,
say to make a decision to do something, is like moving through an *actual* jungle:
It is hard and it costs energy. Your brain hates expending energy,
so it came up with a trick: All your actions and behaviors leave paths in the jungle of your brain.
As you start doing something, you trample down some plants and make rough, improvised trails
through the undergrowth. The more often you do the thing, the more pronounced the trail becomes.
Over time it turns into a path that is easier to tread, so you take it more often
and it turns into a street. As you repeat doing the thing, over and over for years,
the street turns into a highway. Traversing it becomes effortless, familiar and comfortable.
The more pronounced your brain highways, the more you get used to their comfort.
So we continue to use them, which means we tend to do what we have always done.
This is why change is hard, especially as an adult
when your jungle is criss-crossed by lots of established streets and highways.
To understand how those highways are built we need to distinguish between two things:
Routines and habits.
The Things You Do: Routines and Habits
A routine is a sequence of actions that you carry out the same way every time because they’ve worked
out well for you. For example, you get the same ingredients for your favorite dish and
cook them in a certain order, because you like the taste of the result. Or before going to bed
you set an alarm at 6:30 because this is when you want to get up.
Imagine routines executed by a wise planner. It is slow and analytical, responsible for strategizing
and mental calculations. The planner is aware of the future and carefully considers
what kind of result you want. Based on that, it chooses actions to achieve specific outcomes,
even if they are uncomfortable, like taking a shower after getting up.
Routines can eventually turn into habits, which feel much easier
because they are basically a sequence of actions carried out without thinking about them.
You have done them so often before that your brain considers them rewarding
and a great response to a situation. So a habit can feel like you’re on autopilot.
You don’t have to convince yourself to do something that’s a habit - you just do it.
The important thing about habits is that they are set in motion by triggers,
context cues that can be single things or entire situations,
that give your brain the signal to start the behavior or action.
You already have a lot of triggers in your life: like when you see your phone,
you almost always unlock the screen. Or you reach for the seat belt when you sit in a car. Or when
you buy your coffee before work, you also get a cookie, even though you aren’t actually hungry.
Habits are executed by an impulsive toddler. It responds to your immediate desires, based
on what is around you. Without considering any longer-term goals. For the toddler,
the future doesn’t exist and it hates hard work. So when it notices a trigger, it steers you to
take this easy road inside your brain that leads to a familiar rewarding result. If you get coffee,
the toddler also wants the cookie, just because that’s what you do every morning.
This rewarding feeling is also how most of your bad habits started: chocolate is tasty,
browsing reddit is occasionally mildly entertaining.
This is why you repeat these actions, even if they are bad for you.
Rewarding feelings associated with an action demand to be repeated and so a bad habit is born.
While the toddler sounds like a built-in sabotage mechanism,
it is as important as the wise planner and actually they work together most of the time!
You need your wise planner for thinking big thoughts and parallel parking and doing your
taxes. But letting your wise planner do everything would cost too much energy. Outsourcing mundane
and repetitive tasks to habits, managed by the toddler, allows your brain to easily
manage your daily life, while dealing with more complex mental challenges at the same time.
So if we want to change and introduce a new behavior into our lives,
we can actually use these energy saving mechanisms to make it easier.
We will focus on small things, not big ones.
Improving your life a little is so much better than aiming high
and changing nothing. Especially because small changes can do a lot over months and years.
How To Build a Habit
If you want to make change easier, the best way may not be to force
it with willpower but to convince your brain that it’s not that big of a deal.
By creating new routines and then turning them into habits. You want your wise planner
to construct that first trail and then use your toddler to help initiate the action effortlessly.
Let us say, you want to work out to be fitter, a very common goal.
The first thing to do is to break down this pretty vague goal into clear, separate actions,
because the idea is to make the action itself as easy a threshold as possible:
so small it is manageable and so specific that you don’t have to think about it a lot.
For example, a tangible, controllable action might be
“doing ten squats” every morning. So you can start by trying to create a routine
but already include clear triggers that the toddler can pick up later on.
Remember, a trigger is nothing more than a signal that you always associate with the action.
They can be visual pointers like seeing a particular object, like your training
outfit. Or a certain time of day, or a designated place like a nearby park – or even better, all of
these things combined. The important thing is that you always start doing your action in a specific
context. This trigger is the start button that will eventually set off the action automatically.
So to establish a home workout habit with ten squats to begin with, you could make sure to
always do them with your exercise gear on, at the same place and time, like in your living room at
8am. Once you have your trigger and action, all you need to do is repeat them regularly,
ideally every day. If you keep going, they will change from a routine to a habit,
from a trail to a highway. Don’t get this wrong, the squats will still take you energy to do – but
the decision to do them will feel much less like a chore and more like a regular part of your day.
While this is simple, it is not easy.
Many things you want to turn into habits don’t offer as much instant gratification as wasting
time on reddit. To make your new action easier to repeat and more likely to be picked up by
the toddler, try to make it pleasurable. Not necessarily by rewarding yourself
after you did it, but by making the action or behavior itself more enjoyable. Like only
listening to your favorite podcast while working out, or chipping away at your taxes
while you wait for civilization to load the next round. You need to figure out what works for you.
In principle, that's it.
Frustratingly simple, like most things you can do to make your life better. How long it takes
for your toddler to take over and establish a habit varies widely. It depends on the behavior
you are trying to get used to, what kind of person you are, your stress levels and many more things.
It takes anything between 15 and 250 days until a new habit is kicked off
automatically by its trigger. You won't know how long it will take for you.
Starting is the easy part, especially in the first week or two.
Continuing to do it every day is the hard part. But it does get easier as you keep going.
There are no silver bullets for change. But the science of habits
is a reminder that it is possible, no matter how old or young you are.
Even if you only end up doing a little more good stuff or a few new things, that’s still a success.
Being a little bit more healthy or knowledgable is a million times better than being unhappy about
a thing and changing nothing. In the end, change is a direction, not a destination.
So now that we hopefully gave you a bit of insight and motivation, this is the
moment to sell you a thing! But please know, you do not need to buy anything to work on yourself.
Having said that, we struggle with change as much as anyone else,
so we created our own habit journal, as much for ourselves as for you. Before we printed anything,
we tested it on ourselves and got feedback from the Kurzgesagt team.
The idea is for you to track your habit progress for your desired behavior.
There is a tutorial part which guides you through the hardest part of the process step by step.
You’ll get helpful pointers, reflect on your progress and how you could make things easier for
yourself. Once you get through the tutorial part the habit journaling starts, regularly interwoven
by examples, science Breaks and reflections that will hopefully keep the journey interesting.
Like our Gratitude Journal it is cloth-bound, with an embossed hardcover and printed on
high-quality paper. Nice to the touch and with lots of beautiful illustrations this
book is compangion on your personal change journey, however small or big it may be.
Getting things from our shop is the best way to support Kurzgesagt
and what we try to do here on the channel. Thank you for watching.
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