5 Brain-Based Ways to Stop Bad Habits

We all suffer from habits that prevent us from being who we want to be. Or so we think. Yet, few of us realize the extent to which our bad habits are perpetuated by our fear-brains. In this brief reflection, I will identify seven brain-based principles that lie behind bad habits and how we can use these principles based in the fear-brain to overcome them.

1. Stress puts the brain in habit-mode: When we think of changing our habits, whether it is stopping smoking or having regrettable sex too often, we literally have to turn off the electric current that flows through these circuits in the brain. If not this, then we have to re-channel the current through another pathway. Extensive research has shown that stress perpetuates bad habits. When we are under stress, there is not enough "brain-energy" to make the re-channeling occur. As a result, the brain goes into "automatic" mode and only the habit brain stay online while the potentially new circuits are turned off. Trying to change a habit while stressed is like trying to put off a fire with gasoline. It is just not going to happen. The first thing to address then, when trying to change a habit, is stress reduction.

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