Bad Habits

Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters. –Nathaniel Emmons Why Old Habits Die Hard: Habits help us through the day, eliminating the need to strategize about each tiny step involved in making a frothy latte, driving to work and other complex routines. Bad habits, though, can have a vise grip on both mind and behavior. Notoriously hard to break, they are devilishly easy to resume, as many reformed smokers discover. A study led by Ann Graybiel of MIT now shows why. Important neural activity patterns in a specific region of the brain change when habits are formed, change again when habits are broken, but quickly re-emerge when something rekindles an extinguished habit — routines that originally took great effort to learn. Said Graybiel, “We are hopeful that this may be a key to understanding how to treat bad habits like addiction, and also how to encourage good habits that benefit health and happiness.” [more]Be The Change: Encourage a good habit today that you’ve been meaning to cultivate, but haven’t yet focused on.