The Habit Loop: Creating Enduring Success

Harnessing Routine Power for Lasting Success

Imagine this scenario. You’ve just moved house, and for the first time, you’re doing a weekly shop. The route is almost the same — you haven’t moved far in this scenario — but with slight differences. You buy your food and head home. As you drive home, you realise you’re not driving home, you’re driving to your old place. The route shares some similarities. You feel a little silly. Chances are you say to yourself:

Force of habit.

That age-old saying has, well, become a habit for most people. Your brain and body will latch on to routine systems, experiences, and processes in the form of habits, whether you like it or not. Your brain craves routine, so when you provide it with repeated actions, you’ll find yourself latching on — even if you know it might be bad for you.

That’s the thing with habits, they aren’t all necessarily good. Habits might take the form of biting fingernails — just because it’s seen as negative by others, that often doesn’t mean the brain can stop. What’s more, they build up over time. One thing people often do wrong when trying to build better habits is precisely that — they don’t build. Habits — good and bad — are constructed over time through a series of actions. They’re repeated until they become…