One Apple A Day #493 - immediate rewards, delayed benefits
One of the problems when we want to install a new habit, it's the delayed reward that comes with it. The costs of a good habit are in the present while the reward is potentially somewhere in the future. In general, with bad habits, it's the opposite. Unfortunately, our brain hasn't changed much from our prehistoric ancestors. Because their primary goal was to survive, our brain favors the present more than the future. This is why for most of us it's easy to slip into bad habits while it takes a lot of effort to start a new one. However, being aware of this we can trick our mind adding an immediate reward to the habit we want to start. Something that makes you feel good as soon as you finished the activity you want to transform into a recurring practice. But there's a caveat. The reward must be consistent with your identity and the one habit you want to create. If you want to create the habit of training every day to get fit, you can't use ice cream as a reward. It would send contradictory messages to your brain. The more the habit becomes natural for you, the less you'll need the reward. The simple act of doing your practice will be rewarding.
For me, the challenge is often the reward. When I started this writing habit, I printed a simple grid of 90 squares, and I challenge myself to tick all of them in 90 days. Seeing that "X" every day was my immediate reward. It made me feel good enough to keep going until it became natural.