Know When To Break The Pattern
I frequently use the laughing-crying emoji. You know the one? It's apparently popular among millennials. I think the fact that I use it is supposed to be an indicator that I'm old. Not too old, of course. But old enough to remember a world before emojis existed. A world when you couldn't use an image to tell someone immediately how you felt, but instead had to wait until after gym when your best friend could pass them the note you wrote in 3rd period. The reason I use this emoji, however, has nothing to do with my generation or because I love it more than any other symbol. I use this emoji often because I used it once and when you use something once it makes it easier to use again. It shows up in your "Frequently used" section, making it that much easier to repeat the pattern.
This is just one example of many things that set us up for repetition. Our lives are designed to repeat patterns, whether we want to or not. Our brains are the same way. In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg describes the true power of patterns with the historic case of Eugene Pauly. Eugene, known in the medical community as EP, was a man who lost nearly all his memory and the ability to make new memories. He had no idea who he was or who his family was. Yet, one day he accidentally wandered outside the house and somehow was able to find his way back. If you asked him what his address was he would have no idea. He did not know, but his body knew.
What MIT researchers later discovered, is that while EP was unable to make new memories, the part of his brain responsible for making new habits (the basal ganglia) was still functioning properly. This is why he was able to "remember" how to get home. He had gone on the walk repeatedly with his wife and so when he stepped out the front door, he knew how to walk around the block and come back home even without her guidance.
According to Duhigg and the scientific studies he researched, habits emerge because "the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. Left to its own devices, the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit, because habits allow our minds to ramp down more often." Our life is like one big maze that our mind does not want to work through anew everyday, so it remembers. It remembers each turn so each pass through goes just a little bit smoother. This is important for us to know when it comes to building healthy patterns in our lives. It's also important to keep in mind that sometimes the best course forward is outside the pattern.
Think about what you do everyday. Think about what you did this morning. How much of it was your choice and how much of it was because you fell into a routine? When you eat a snack, are you doing it because you're hungry? Or is it because you walked in the kitchen and opened the fridge because that's what your brain tells you to do when you walk into the kitchen - hungry or not? If you want to do something different in your life, take note of the patterns that already exist. You may be doing something everyday not because you want to, but just because your body is built to repeat. If it's a bad pattern, just remember that it's not your fault. You're not doing it because you're weak, but rather because your body was designed for repetition. Now that you know that, you can take active steps to break the bad habits and choose the good patterns that you want your body to remember.
Check out this page for the full story of Eugene Pauly.
Check out my previous post, Mind the Cue, for guidance on how to change bad habits into good ones.
