Science has shown that willpower is not enough to abandon a bad habit: you have to make the brain hated

Neuroscience shows that understanding the triggers and prizes behind our actions is the first step to transform them

Habits play a key role in the routine. According to Harvard Business Review “Emotional Intelligence: Good Habits”, about half of our daily actions is guided by automatic behaviors that we repeat without realizing it.

The same mechanism that helps to consolidate good habits, but also explains why the abandonment of a bad habit may seem almost impossible. It is not only a willpower, but to understand how the brain works and how these schemes are resolved.

Why do we adopt bad habits?

We all know that leading a sedentary life is bad, spending hours sliding videos on Tiktok until Dawn compromises the next day and that smoking is extremely harmful to health. Again, as explained by Harvard Business Review The neuroscientist Judson Brewer, author of the book “UNXIty” UNXItyy, could not avoid falling into some of these behaviors and getting rid of them can be a great challenge.

According to Brewer, the environment in which we live is designed to bomb us with stimuli strengthening habits, in particular the negatives. The prizes that the brain receives during the execution of certain behaviors end up changing our learning system based on reward, creating difficult standards to break.

“Every time we try to disconnect from a tiring task through social networks, we strengthen this sense of reward, to the point that harmful distractions can become habit,” he explains.

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Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.