As a life coach, I help clients establish healthy habits that support their personal and professional goals. Habit formation is a crucial part of creating lasting change in your life, and it's a topic that I am passionate about. In this blog, I will be discussing the 3 Rs of habit formation - Reminder, Routine, and Reward and how you can use them to establish new habits and break old ones.
Reminder:
The first R of habit formation is Reminder. A reminder is a cue or trigger that prompts you to engage in a behaviour. For example, if you want to start a daily meditation practice, you could set a reminder on your phone to meditate at the same time every day.
There are many different types of reminders that you can use to establish a new habit. Some common examples include:
Time-based reminders: These are reminders that are triggered by a specific time of day or day of the week. For example, you might set a reminder to go for a walk every morning at 7 am.
Location-based reminders: These are reminders that are triggered by a specific location. For example, you might set a reminder to do a quick workout every time you walk past your home gym.
Event-based reminders: These are reminders that are triggered by a specific event or action. For example, you might set a reminder to do a gratitude exercise every time you finish your morning coffee.
The key to using reminders effectively is to make them specific, actionable, and easy to follow through on. You want to choose a reminder that is closely tied to the behaviour you want to establish and that will be difficult to ignore.
Routine:
The second R of habit formation is Routine. The routine is the behaviour or action that you want to establish as a habit. This could be anything from going for a run every morning to drinking a glass of water before every meal.
When establishing a new habit, it's important to start small and build gradually. Trying to make too many changes at once can be overwhelming and increase the likelihood of failure. Instead, focus on establishing one new habit at a time and gradually building on it over time.
To establish a new habit, you need to repeat the behaviour consistently over a period of time. This helps to reinforce the habit loop in your brain and make the behaviour automatic.
Reward:
The third R of habit formation is Reward. The reward is the positive outcome or benefits that you receive from engaging in the behaviour. Rewards are important because they help to reinforce the habit loop and make it more likely that you will continue the behaviour in the future.
There are many different types of rewards that you can use to reinforce your habits. Some common examples include:
Intrinsic rewards: These are rewards that come from within, such as the sense of accomplishment you feel after completing a workout.
Extrinsic rewards: These are rewards that come from outside, such as a piece of chocolate after completing a difficult task.
Social rewards: These are rewards that come from other people, such as praise or recognition for a job well done.
The key to using rewards effectively is to choose a reward that is meaningful to you and that you will look forward to receiving. You also want to make sure that the reward is tied to the behaviour you want to establish.
Putting it all together:
To establish a new habit using the 3 Rs of habit formation, you need to follow a simple process:
Choose a specific behaviour or action that you want to establish as a habit.
Choose a reminder that will prompt you to engage in the behaviour.
Repeat the behaviour consistently over a period of time to establish the habit.
Choose a reward that you will receive after engaging in the behaviour.
Repeat the habit loop - reminder, routine, reward - consistently over