15 Ways to Hack Your Brain to Break Bad Habits

Summary

The script offers 15 strategies to break bad habits by rewiring the brain. It emphasizes hacking the subconscious mind during suggestible states like early morning or before sleep, embracing mistakes for neural pathway change, using emotional priming to associate good feelings with new habits, and mentally rehearsing actions. It also advises against forcing change with negative information, taking control over automatic reactions, using routines to rewire habits, identifying emotional triggers, shortening emotional reactions, reprogramming the brain's reward system, being curious, embracing fear of the unknown, starting the day in the present, not waiting for external changes, and utilizing meditation and mindfulness to enhance these techniques.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Hack your brain at the right point: Use the quiet moments just after waking up or before falling asleep to implant new ideas and scenarios that break the bad habit.
• 🚀 Make mistakes: Mistakes break old neural pathways and pave the way for new ones, use them to gather data and understand what doesn't work.
• 😌 Use emotional priming: Train your brain to associate good emotions with good habits, rehearsing the feelings you want to experience when breaking a habit.
• 🤔 Mentally rehearse specific actions: Visualize the steps to break a habit, creating new neural pathways in your brain.
• 🚫 Don't force change with negative information: Focus on the gains of letting go of a habit, not the negatives.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Take control from automatic reactions: Interrupt your habits at unpredictable times to assert control over your actions.
• 🔄 Use routines to rewire habits: Change the place or context where you perform a habit to break the neural connections.
• 🔍 Find the emotional triggers: Identify the emotions that lead to your bad habits and find healthier alternatives to fulfill those emotional needs.
• 🔁 Shorten emotional reactions: Control how long you dwell on an emotion to prevent it from becoming a part of your personality.
• 🏃‍♂️ Reprogram your brain's reward system: Give yourself healthier rewards for good habits instead of relying on the old primal rewards.
• 🤓 Be curious, not critical: Use curiosity to break autopilot mode and train your brain to be more aware and in control.
• 🌟 Embrace the unknown: Get used to the fear of change and take action anyway, your body will adapt.
• 🌞 Start your day in the present: Narrate your present actions and future plans to avoid reliving past events and emotions.
• 🏁 Don't wait for external changes: Begin breaking habits now, don't delay for external circumstances to change.
• 🧘‍♀️ Meditation and mindfulness: Practice these to gain control over your mind and make breaking habits easier.

Q & A

What is the main reason most people fail when they first try to break a bad habit?

Most people fail because they try to break the habit in the wrong ways. Habits are hardwired into the brain, and to break them, one must effectively rewire the brain's 'source code' that created the habit in the first place.

Why is it suggested to target the subconscious mind when attempting to change habits?

The subconscious mind is considered an easier entry point for rewiring habits compared to the conscious mind, which is often cluttered with noise and harder to influence. The subconscious is more suggestible during moments of quiet, such as upon waking or just before sleep.

How can making mistakes help in breaking a bad habit?

Mistakes can break old neural pathways and create new ones. They interrupt the system, causing chaos that is beneficial for change. Each mistake provides an opportunity to gather new data and understand what doesn't work, thus helping the brain to rewire and recognize alternative behaviors.

What role do emotions play in maintaining or breaking habits?

Emotions are key to controlling habits. Bad habits are often turned to for comfort during negative emotional states. Emotional priming, which involves rehearsing positive emotions associated with breaking a habit, can help train the brain to expect and associate good emotions with new, healthier behaviors.

Why is it important to mentally rehearse specific actions for success when trying to break a habit?

Mental rehearsal of specific actions helps create new neural pathways in the brain, essentially 're-stacking the dominoes' to fall in a different direction. This makes the physical changes to break the habit easier to achieve.

How can focusing on the negative aspects of a habit backfire when trying to break it?

Focusing on how bad a habit is can activate guilt, shame, and anxiety, which actually triggers more stress and reinforces the bad habit. Instead, one should focus on the benefits of letting go of the habit and frame the change as a gain rather than a loss.

What is the significance of taking control of automatic reactions in breaking habits?

Habits often become automatic, and the body reacts to triggers before the conscious mind can intervene. Taking control of these reactions by interrupting them at unpredictable times helps assert dominance over the habit and shows the brain who is in charge.

How can changing the location of a habitual action help in rewiring the brain?

Neuroscience suggests that 'nerve cells that fire together, wire together.' Changing the location of a habitual action disrupts the neural connections associated with that habit, making the brain 'wake up' and reconsider the action, thus helping to rewire the habit.

What is the purpose of finding the emotional triggers behind a habit?

Identifying the emotional triggers behind a habit helps understand the emotional need that the habit is fulfilling. Once known, healthier habits can be developed to meet that emotional need, thus breaking the cycle of turning to the bad habit.

How can shortening emotional reactions help in habit formation or breaking?

Shortening the refractory period of emotional reactions can prevent them from becoming ingrained habits or personality traits. By focusing on the lessons from an emotional event and not dwelling on it, one can control how long the reaction lasts and avoid reinforcing bad habits.

Why is it recommended to avoid starting the day with thoughts from the past?

Starting the day with thoughts from the past can lead to reliving past events and emotions, which may not be productive for the current day. Focusing on the present and future can help in breaking this cycle and taking control of one's habits and thoughts.

How does meditation and mindfulness help in breaking bad habits?

Meditation and mindfulness can help by providing control over the mind, allowing one to actively create new thoughts and situations. They also develop metacognition, the ability to think about one's own thinking, making it easier to break bad habits by viewing impulses objectively.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Rewiring the Brain to Break Bad Habits

The paragraph discusses the difficulty of breaking bad habits due to their deep-rooted nature in the brain. It suggests that the key to breaking a habit is to hack the brain at the right moment, specifically targeting the subconscious mind when it's most suggestible, such as upon waking or just before sleep. The idea is to introduce new, positive scenarios that replace the bad habit, leveraging the brain's wave states to facilitate change.

05:01

🚀 Making Mistakes to Forge New Neural Pathways

This section emphasizes the importance of making mistakes as a means to disrupt old neural pathways and create new ones. It argues that mistakes should be viewed as opportunities to gather data and learn, rather than as failures. The process involves understanding what doesn't work and using that information to rewire the brain to avoid repeating the same behaviors, thus gradually breaking the bad habit.

10:03

🌟 Using Emotional Priming for Success

The paragraph explains the role of emotions in controlling habits. It suggests that bad habits are often turned to for comfort during negative emotional states. To counter this, one should use emotional priming to associate good habits with positive emotions. This involves mentally rehearsing the feeling of success after breaking a bad habit, which trains the brain to expect positive emotions and thus makes it easier to follow through with healthier actions.

15:04

🧘‍♂️ Mental Rehearsal for Habit Change

This section talks about the power of mental rehearsal in creating new neural pathways. It likens habits to a series of connected dominoes, suggesting that by mentally rehearsing the action of breaking a habit, one can create a new pathway that disrupts the old pattern. The process requires imagining the entire scenario of overcoming obstacles and resisting excuses, which helps in creating a blueprint for actual behavior change.

20:06

🚫 Avoiding Forceful Change Through Negative Information

The paragraph advises against using negative information about a habit's harmful effects as a motivator for change. It points out that focusing on the negative aspects of a habit can lead to feelings of guilt and shame, which may reinforce the habit rather than break it. Instead, the focus should be on the benefits of letting go of the habit, framing the change as a gain rather than a loss to reduce mental energy wasted on self-criticism.

🏋️‍♀️ Taking Control Over Automatic Reactions

This section discusses the importance of taking control over the body's automatic reactions to break habits. It suggests that habits become automatic to conserve energy, but when they are bad, it's necessary to assert control. Interrupting oneself at unpredictable times can help show the body who's in charge and break the cycle of automatic behavior.

🔄 Using Routines to Rewrite Neural Codes

The paragraph explains how routines can be used to rewire the neural code associated with habits. It states that performing a habit strengthens the neural connections, making the habit harder to break. To counter this, one should identify and break the strongest connection in the routine, often by changing the location where the habit is performed, which disrupts the comfort and familiarity of the habit.

🔍 Finding Emotional Triggers Behind Habits

This section emphasizes the need to identify the emotional triggers behind bad habits to address the underlying emotional needs. It suggests that by understanding the emotion that triggers the habit, one can develop healthier habits to fulfill the same emotional need. The process involves becoming aware of the emotional state before indulging in the habit and then substituting it with a healthier action.

🏃‍♂️ Shortening Emotional Reactions

The paragraph discusses the concept of the refractory period, which is the duration for which an emotional reaction lasts. It suggests that by shortening this period, one can control how long an emotional reaction influences behavior. The idea is to take lessons from negative experiences and focus on those lessons to reduce the impact of the emotional memory, thus breaking the link between the memory and the bad habit.

🍰 Reprogramming the Brain's Reward System

This section talks about the need to reprogram the brain's reward system to associate good habits with high rewards. It explains that the brain evolved to attach high rewards to behaviors that aid survival, such as consuming calorie-dense food. To break bad habits, one should trick the brain into attaching high rewards to good habits instead, using healthier rewards to reinforce the new behavior.

🤔 Being Curious Instead of Critical

The paragraph advises being curious as a way to break autopilot mode and activate higher thinking centers. It suggests that curiosity can train the brain to be more aware of one's actions and surroundings, which can help in taking control over one's habits. The idea is to be curious about random things, which can lead to a more mindful and aware state of being.

😱 Embracing the Fear of the Unknown

This section discusses the fear of change and how it can hinder the process of breaking habits. It points out that the body resists change because it seeks predictability and safety. To overcome this, one must get used to the feeling of fear and proceed with the change anyway, understanding that the fear is a temporary reaction to the unknown.

🌞 Starting the Day in the Present

The paragraph advises against starting the day with thoughts from the past, as this can lead to reliving past events and emotions. It suggests focusing on the present moment and narrating small, present experiences to minimize the influence of past memories. This practice can help in taking control of one's thoughts and feelings, making it easier to break habits.

🚫 Not Waiting for External Changes to Break Habits

This section warns against the belief that habits will change when external circumstances change. It emphasizes that change must start from within and cannot be deferred to future situations or events. The idea is to make small changes immediately, understanding that habits are influenced more by internal feelings than by external issues.

🧘‍♀️ Meditation and Mindfulness as Tools for Change

The final paragraph highlights meditation and mindfulness as tools that can facilitate the process of breaking bad habits. It suggests that these practices can help in controlling one's thoughts and impulses, making it easier to break habits. Meditation can develop metacognition, which allows for objective observation of one's thoughts, leading to greater control over one's actions and habits.

Keywords

💡Habit

A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. In the context of the video, habits are described as being 'hardwired' into the brain, emphasizing the difficulty of breaking them. The video suggests that to break a bad habit, one must 'rewire' the brain by targeting the subconscious mind during moments of suggestibility, such as upon waking or before sleep.

💡Rewiring

Rewiring, in the context of the video, refers to the process of changing the neural pathways in the brain associated with a habit. The script explains that to break a bad habit, one must hack into the 'source code' of the brain, which involves altering the subconscious mind during its most suggestible states to create new, healthier habits.

💡Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind is the part of the mind that operates below the level of conscious awareness. The video emphasizes that the subconscious is a key point of entry for habit change because it is more suggestible and less cluttered with the 'noise' of everyday conscious thoughts. It suggests using the quiet moments upon waking or before sleep to influence the subconscious mind.

💡Mistakes

The video posits that making mistakes can be beneficial in breaking bad habits because they disrupt old neural pathways and create opportunities for new ones. It encourages viewing mistakes not as failures but as data points that can inform and improve future actions, thus promoting change and rewiring the brain to avoid previous errors.

💡Emotional Priming

Emotional priming is the process of influencing one's subsequent behavior or thought by initial exposure to a stimulus. The video suggests using emotional priming to associate good emotions with the act of breaking a bad habit. By rehearsing positive feelings in the mind, one can train the brain to expect and seek out those positive emotions, making it easier to adopt new, healthier habits.

💡Mental Rehearsal

Mental rehearsal, as discussed in the video, is the act of visualizing oneself performing a desired action, such as breaking a bad habit. This practice is said to create new neural pathways in the brain, effectively 'rewriting the code' of habitual behavior. The video encourages creating detailed mental scenarios to train the mind to anticipate and execute the new habit successfully.

💡Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system and brain functions. The video uses principles from neuroscience to explain how habits are formed and maintained through neural connections and pathways. It also suggests that by understanding these principles, one can intentionally create and strengthen new neural connections to form better habits.

💡Rewire

Rewire, as mentioned, refers to the intentional alteration of neural pathways to change habits. The video discusses rewiring as a strategic approach to breaking habits by identifying and modifying the 'code' or routine that triggers the habit, such as changing the location where one performs the habit to disrupt the automatic response.

💡Emotional Triggers

Emotional triggers are the feelings or states that prompt a habitual response. The video advises identifying these triggers to understand the emotional needs that坏习惯s fulfill. By addressing the underlying emotional need with a healthier habit, one can break the cycle of resorting to bad habits in response to certain emotions.

💡Meditation

Meditation is a practice of focused attention and awareness, often used for mental and spiritual improvement. The video suggests that meditation and mindfulness can help in breaking bad habits by providing a means to access and influence the subconscious mind. These practices can enhance self-control and the ability to make deliberate choices rather than acting on autopilot.

💡Metacognition

Metacognition is the ability to think about and understand one's own thought processes. The video implies that meditation can enhance metacognition, allowing individuals to observe their impulses and habits more objectively. This heightened self-awareness can be instrumental in recognizing and changing undesired habits.

Highlights

90% of people fail to break bad habits due to incorrect methods.

Habits are hardwired into the brain and need to be rewired to be broken.

The subconscious mind is the easiest entry point to hack and change habits.

The optimal time to influence the mind is just before falling asleep or upon waking up.

Mistakes are essential for breaking old neural pathways and creating new ones.

Emotional priming can set you up for success by associating good emotions with new habits.

Mental rehearsal of specific actions helps create new neural pathways.

Avoid forcing change with negative information about your behavior.

Take control over your body's automatic reactions to break bad habits.

Routines can rewire the neural code in your brain to break bad habits.

Identify the emotional triggers behind habits to tackle them effectively.

Shorten your emotional reactions to prevent them from becoming ingrained habits.

Reprogram your brain's reward system to associate high rewards with good habits.

Be curious, not critical, to break the autopilot mode and increase self-awareness.

The fear of the unknown is natural, but you must get used to it to break habits.

Don't start your day in the past; focus on the present to break habitual thought patterns.

Don't wait for external circumstances to change; start breaking habits now.

Meditation and mindfulness can fast-track the process of breaking bad habits.

Transcripts

how many times have you tried to break a

bad habit 90% of people fail when they

first start trying to break their bad

habits and it's because they're trying

to break it in all the wrong ways habits

are hardwired into your brain and they

have to be because you need the space

for learning which means that if you

have a bad habit you have to break it by

rewiring the source code you have to get

into all the little parts of your brain

that created The Habit in the first

place and keep it functioning and how on

Earth can you do all of that well here

you

go number one you actually have to hack

your brain at the right point when you

break into something you're not going to

go for the hardest point right you're

going to go for the weakest part and

then get in that way it's the same with

your mind you keep trying to hack and

trick your normal conscious mind and

it's virtually impossible okay that

shit's kept behind lock key alarms and

guards the easiest way in is through

your subconscious mind and look okay

before you dismiss this as some kind of

woo woo advice hear us out it's really

hard virtually impossible to rewire

anything with your conscious normal

everyday thinking mind there's just too

much going in and you can't get through

all of that noise but there's a moment

when the noise is quiet when it's still

picking up steam and that's when you

have to slip in quietly like a burglar

in the night breaking into your own mind

when you wake up in the morning your

brain moves through different wave

States delta waves which are deep sleep

Theta which is deep relaxation Alpha

light relaxation and then beta which is

very active you want to catch those

waves when it's not as active and more

suggestible so the moment you wake up

and just before you fall asleep sneak in

with some imaginary scenarios where

you've broken the bad habit and you feel

good about it we'll go into some more

details on how to do this in just a

moment but we wanted to get this out of

the way first to make sure you're

entering your mind at the right

Point number two make mistakes because

they break old neural Pathways and build

up new ones mistakes interrupt the

system and cause chaos and this is

exactly what you want when you're trying

to break a bad habit mistakes are your

brain's weapon for creating change if

you've been conditioned to think that

failure means means you're back to

square one well you've misunderstood how

your brain works each time when you make

a mistake as you're trying to break a

habit use that error to gather new data

understand what doesn't work for you the

mistake is fine the problem is when you

don't actually gather information from

it because look then you see the mistake

as a failure and you fall off track

since it feels like there's no coming

back from it but when you gather the

data your brain will rewire itself to

recognize other options for the Habit

you're trying to break the more mistakes

you make the better it becomes at

predicting and avoiding those behaviors

but you must gather that data just like

you would do with any work project what

caused the error what's the most

critical point of intercepting this

error and how can you make sure it

doesn't happen

again number three use emotional priming

to set yourself up for suc success your

emotions are the key to controlling your

habits you keep turning to your bad

habits because they make you feel better

when you experience negative emotions

like stress boredom or anxiety so when

you feel stressed you look for comfort

and since you find comfort in your bad

habits well you'll use that habit to

douse the feeling of stress in a way

your brain has been trained to connect

that Comfort to the habits that are

usually bad because they take less

energy to do and usually give you a

short Rush before a drop so you need to

train your brain to experience good

emotions from good habits instead of

just the bad ones and did you know that

your body and your brain don't actually

know the difference between what's real

and what's imaginary whatever is

happening in your mind it's happening to

you with some emotional priming you

rehearse the feeling you want to get

when you break a bad habit keep

rehearsing this feeling think think

about breaking that habit and think

about the good feelings that will come

with it let's say you want to stop

procrastinating and be more productive

standard goal right we'll take a few

moments each morning to sit quietly and

imagine how you'll feel when you're in

control of your time calm focused

accomplished let those emotions wash

over you as if they're already happening

this trains your brain to expect those

feelings over time it'll begin to

associate new healthier behaviors with

the Positive emotions that you've primed

so it's easier to follow through on the

actions that will get you to your

goals number four mentally rehearse

specific actions for

Success now that you've rehearsed the

emotions you have to rehearse the action

in your brain habits are just neural

Pathways that are connected to each

other it's like dominoes all falling in

the same direction each time because of

the way they've been stacked they're all

connected because they're on the same

pathway now when you mentally rehearse

the action of breaking a habit you take

a different route and that creates new

neural Pathways you're moving The

Dominoes so they all fall a different

way instead rehearsing the action takes

a little bit more practice and energy

than the emotion because well instead of

imagining a feeling you have to imagine

a whole scenario it's like you're

creating a short film in your mind

you'll have to think of all the steps

you have to do do outside obstacles

you'll have to overcome and how to play

Devil's Advocate to the excuses that

you'll inevitably come up with now we

just mentioned before that your brain

and body can't actually tell what's real

and what isn't if it's happening in your

mind it's happening to you okay cool but

what does that even mean so when you

imagine the action you want to do like

breaking a bad habit it's as if you've

already done it and now you have new

neural Pathways that are in your control

you've got a blueprint which makes the

physical changes a whole lot easier to

achieve number five Don't Force change

with information about how bad your

behavior is if the first thing you do

when you're trying to break a bad habit

is to learn everything you can about how

bad it is you're never going to succeed

you already know it's bad okay that is

why you're trying to break it in the

first place you can't think your way out

of a bad habit and you can't shame

yourself out of it either because the

the more you focus on your behavior the

more comfortable you get in that guilt

and shame that comes with it so stop

learning about how bad it is for you

okay it's not helpful you're targeting

the completely wrong thing and you're

not going to make progress that way when

you focus on how bad something is you're

activating guilt shame and anxiety which

actually triggers more stress the very

emotion that reinforces these bad habits

so shift your focus to what you gain by

letting go of the habit it frame the

change as something you are gaining not

something you are losing the less mental

energy you waste on berating yourself

the more you'll have available to build

the Habit that will actually serve you

better number six take the power back

from your body's automatic

reactions when something becomes a habit

you're no longer in charge of it but

that's kind of a good thing it's your

brain's way of saving energy it's a

great tool when you've got good habits

because you won't have to hype yourself

up for them every time you do something

but it's not so great when you've got

bad habits that's when you need to show

who's actually in charge your body

becomes conditioned to respond to

certain triggers it acts before your

conscious mind even has a chance to

catch up so you have to show him who's

boss by interrupting yourself at the

most unpredictable times when you're

sitting comfortably on the sofa watching

TV and you've got this vague thought

about getting up and doing some cleaning

and your body and brain both say no you

have to step in and say yes you are not

the voice in your head okay every time

you find yourself mindlessly doing

something you usually do driving walking

the same route ordering the same food

kick down that door take control and

make a random but powerful

change number seven use routines to

rewire the code in Neuroscience there's

a saying that goes nerve cells that fire

together

wi together so the more you perform a

habit the stronger the actual neural

Connections in your brain become it's

like a code that's written and hardwired

into you you have to go in and rewrite

that code your first step is to find the

strongest Connection in that code and

break it it's basically the middle point

where you think of doing something and

your brain goes into autopilot mode now

usually you'll wake up from that state

once you've performed your sequence but

you have to wake yourself up before that

the most effective way to do this is to

change the place where you perform that

habit it's the quickest and easiest way

to upset the balance and comfort that

you feel from your usual sequence of

actions like if you usually eat in front

of the TV you got to change where you

are and every time you eat you do it at

the dining table even if you're having a

snack if you feel like you're drinking

too much beer or wine in the evenings

when you're sitting on the porch well

take that glass to the store room or

bathroom room and drink it there it

sounds kind of funny and weird but

changing that space and taking the

Comfort away from it will make your

brain wake up and go what the F this is

weird not fun let's do less of this it

sounds stupid simple right but you'll

see just how uncomfortable and weird it

feels when you try to do it yourself and

yes that's partly because youve put

yourself in a strange place but mostly

it's because that place is uncomfortable

and the opposite of what you're looking

for in the

moment number eight find the emotional

triggers behind the habit every bad

habit is fulfilling an emotional need

that you're lacking but what are you

lacking ha that's what you have to find

out right you have to find this out by

first seeing which emotion is triggering

the Habit in the first place is it

stress loneliness boredom or just

wanting some comfort take a step back

and notice what's going on before you

indulge in that habit are you feeling

anxious over

overwhelmed when you know the trigger

you can tackle it directly then you come

up with a healthier but also easier

habit that you can do instead when you

get that feeling like if you're feeling

stressed you do five squats and then

five push-ups instead don't think too

much about the exercise or action here

your goal isn't to become a squatting

Champion it's just to break that

automatic feedback loop of feeling an

emotion and then turning to a habit to

fix it the awareness and then a

deliberate action repeated over time is

enough to karate chop that Loop in half

number nine you can and should shorten

your emotional

reactions when you've got a strong

emotional reaction to something your

entire system shouts at you to pay

attention to what caused it when you pay

attention to the cause you take a

snapshot of it and that becomes a memory

then the neurological moves into the

chemical the snapshot or memory gets

attached to an emotion and when you

remember the snapshot you feel that

emotion too you can control how long you

want that reaction to last this is

called a refractory period it can last

for minutes hours days and years and the

longer it lasts the more it becomes a

part of your personality when you

constantly think and remember this it's

not just creating a habit it's creating

your temperament now controlling the

refractory period can be hard because it

becomes addictive you get a rush of

energy with the memory and so it starts

to feel good so you shorten that

refractory period if something shitty

happens look at it take one or two

lessons away from it and only focus on

those lessons every time that memory

comes up think of the lessons right now

we can bet that you've got a memory from

years ago that you'd like to call up and

get that Rush again even if it makes you

feel bad that memory is attached to some

bad habit if you want to break that

habit you have got to get over that

memory number 10 reprogram your brain's

reward system your most basic Primal

function above all else is to survive

right if your brain sees something that

it thinks is going to help you survive

and reproduce it's going to attach a

high reward to it the higher the reward

the stronger the habit for that reward

is for most people the highest reward is

calorie dense food Foods why well

because more calories equals better

chances of survival it's an old far

outdated system that we don't need in

today's world but these Primal functions

haven't caught up yet so you have to

trick your brain with high rewards for

good habits not bad ones when you don't

perform your usual bad habit give

yourself a reward but obviously make

sure it's something healthier otherwise

it kind of defeats the purpose think

about the things that give you smaller

doses of dopamine over for a longer time

don't compare the rewards side by side

because when you weigh things up like

going for a walk reading a few pages of

your book or listening to a podcast

against scrolling social media binge

watching shows or procrastinating well

you can clearly see what's easier and

what takes less energy so don't even

think of them that way you have your

list of rewards and that's it every time

you don't do the Habit you choose a

reward from your list you don't let your

brain and body choose from whatever list

they've been leaning on because well

that is clearly not working

here number 11 be curious not critical

they say that to break the autopilot

mode you're running on you have to pay

attention but paying attention can be so

hard you have to focus on what you're

doing what you're thinking what you're

feeling all the time it's so easy to

forget to pay attention even when you're

feeling free easy and good so a little

hack for this is to be curious about

your surroundings because curiosity is

one of your brain's superpowers it

breaks autopilot mode and forces you to

activate its higher thinking centers so

get curious about the most random things

and you'll slowly train yourself to be

more aware of what you're doing like

look at a plant but really look at it go

close to it pick up a leaf look at the

lines on that leaf look at the bugs on

the plant maybe it's kind of gross but

whatever you might look silly to

everyone else but your curiosity trains

your brain to take charge of your body

instead of just allowing it to be an

autopilot you're still breaking that

autopilot mode but in a way more fun and

roundabout kind of

way number 12 the unknown will still be

scary because listen Okay your body is

deathly afraid of changing its routine

it'll fight you tooth and nail when you

try to make a change because it doesn't

know what's coming next it's like when

you have to take your pet to the vet

when they're sick you know that you're

helping them but to your pet well they

think it's more like torture they have

no idea what you're up to that's your

body and brain when you're breaking a

habit it's freaking out it's scared it

doesn't feel good even thinking about

doing it right now doesn't feel good so

your body will influence your brain to

do it tomorrow instead you have to get

used to this feeling though it's not

because Breaking the Habit is truly

uncomfortable though those emotions

you're experiencing are fake they're

produced by your body to keep you in a

more predictable and safe state to your

body the unknown is way worse than the

guilt and suffering you feel from The

Habit that's why it's so hard to just

get started and then once you do it

you're like oh that wasn't so bad and

when you try to do it again it's hard

again but not as hard as it was the

first time that's your body putting up

its defenses and slowly learning that

unpredictability isn't so terrible and

also it's not in charge anymore so it's

putting up a fight that it actually

cannot win eventually your body will get

the message that it should be sitting in

the back seat But first you have to get

used to feeling afraid of the change and

just doing it

anyway number 13 you have to stop

starting your day in the past every

morning when you wake up and you have a

thought 99% of you are starting your day

in the past that thought is connected to

a memory and that memory is connected to

a feeling and so when you think about

that and you remember and feel it you're

literally reliving that event all over

again and you're doing it the moment you

wake up it's crazy okay you can minimize

this incredibly powerful force just by

focusing on what you're doing right now

and making yourself sound like a toddler

who's just discovering the world oh hey

I'm waking up there's my feet touching

the floor and as you narrate these small

present moments in your mind you can be

begin to add some future stories in

there too like I've got a meeting today

about the state of customer service I've

prepared everything so let's just get to

it hey lxer we know this sounds childish

and at times Well way too simple but

your complicated brain is actually

controlled by pretty simple motives and

yet you know it's actually because these

motives are so simple and easy to ignore

that we even struggle to take that

control at

all number 14 don't wait for something

out there to change

Joe dispenza an author and expert in

Mind Body Connection he says that one of

the most dangerous lies that people tell

themselves is that they'll change when

something else changes so they'll break

a habit when some other situation that

is causing them to stress out ends the

end of that situation is not going to

change your habits though in fact it

makes it harder because you're delaying

that change and the more you perform the

Habit the harder it is to break you're

also still going to experience stress

even if it's in a aler form your body

isn't going through the motions because

of that external issue it's doing it

because of an internal feeling and

you're going to have that feeling for

most of your life to different degrees

you absolutely cannot wait for someone

else for another situation for another

day it has to start now okay even with

the smallest change and number 15

meditation and mindfulness will Fast

Track everything you'll notice that so

many of these hacks need you to go into

your mind and intentionally change

what's happening in there many of them

are tools in meditation and mindfulness

you don't have to practice them to use

these hacks but if you do it will help a

lot with these hacks unlike with

traditional meditation you're not

sitting in silence for ages watching

your thoughts go by you are actively

creating new thoughts and situations so

it's a little bit more entertaining for

sure but having the control over your

mind that meditation brings can make the

process easier then instead of waiting

for the morning or evening to get into

your subconscious mind you can put

yourself into that state whenever you

want add in some experiences and

thoughts and then come out of it again

meditation also helps you to develop

metacognition your ability to think

about your own thinking with

metacognition you can look at your

impulses objectively instead of

following them blindly so it becomes

much easier to break a bad habit so it

becomes much easier to break a bad habit

and the more you practice it the more

control you give yourself so your entire

personality doesn't lie in the hands of

your kind of lazy brain and body and Al

alexir that's a wrap on this one today

tell us what's your favorite Jedi mind

trick for breaking your bad habits we

always love hearing from you in the

comments we'll see you back here next

time my friend until then take care

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