This cup may look like any ordinary cup, but what if I told you this cup has mind control powers..
Ok, that sounds a bit out there, but it’s true. This cup has the ability to trigger a behaviour in me. Specifically the behaviour to drink water.
Every evening I would clean our kitchen counter and leave this cup out on the side. In the morning I would wake up, and like most people go down to the kitchen to make my morning cup of coffee. I would see this cup and think “oh yeah, thats my water cup – I will drink a cup of water whilst I’m making my coffee”
Change Your Environment. Change Your Behaviour
It’s seems an exaggeration to say that this cup changed my life, but it did have a profound effect on me. It made me realise the importance of cues or triggers in our environment. We all like to think we are in control of our behaviours but most of the time we are on autopilot. Our brains like to be in this state because it is energy efficient and produces predictable results. Our environments are filled with triggers for all sorts of behaviours, some of which we would like to stop.
When trying to start a new habit creating an obvious trigger is an important first step. I advise putting an object, to act as cue, in a prominent place where your will come across during your daily routine. It will help remind you to start/continue a habit. Secondly, if you use an object/ tool that is used to perform the habit (e.g. the cup in my case), then it makes the behaviour easier to do, and therefore more likely that you will do it. This is why I prefer an object, rather than a note reminding me to do the behaviour.
A couple of years later, I would discover that I was following the ‘1st & 3rd Laws of Behaviour Change’ from James Clear’s superb book ‘Atomic Habits’: 1. Make it Obvious and 3. Make it Easy. By doing both of these things I was triggering the new behaviour whilst simultaneously making it easier to do .
Examples:
Want to go for a run in the morning?
Place your running gear beside you bed for when you wake up.
Want to read more?
Place a book on your coffee table or your pillow.
Want to play less video games
Put away your games controller and games and console. *
*Note that this final example is the reverse of the rule. Remove the triggers of bad habits to make it less likely that you will do them.
Key to Success
The key to making this work is having a trigger item that is specific to the task. For example, I ONLY drink water from this cup. If I used it for coffee, fizzy drinks or alcohol it would create multiple cues and I would get confused over which behaviour to perform. I may end up getting drunk first thing in the morning… With the cup having one specific use, I don’t need to think, I just fill it with water and drink from it. I am using my brain’s auto-pilot wiring to my advantage. This is especially important when using locations as triggers. For example, if you associate your lounge with playing video games then it will be harder to start a habit of reading at that location. You will have to use a lot of will power to overcome the conflicting cues. Instead, pick the book up and go to a new location: the kitchen table, a chair by the window or even go to your favourite coffee shop. Soon these objects, locations and behaviours will become linked and performing your new habit will be automatic.
I hope you got value from this article. If you want to know more about habits I recommend checking out these:
Books:
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Videos: