One of the hardest parts about making major lifestyle changes is breaking old habits.
Whether it’s quitting cigarettes, going vegan, or becoming more active, old habits can be tough to break.
But it’s worth it.
Breaking old habits not only makes you healthier but also allows you to free up time and energy to focus on the things that are important to you.
The year 2022 is finally here, bringing with it a myriad of changes to the way we live our lives.
While some of these changes, such as the advent of driverless vehicles and automated home appliances, will be welcome additions to society, others, such as the use of microchip implants to store personal information and the nationwide implementation of facial recognition algorithms, will raise a number of privacy concerns.
One of the most pervasive new technologies on the horizon is the implantable microchip, which has the potential to revolutionize the way we live our lives.
Already, the microchip has been integrated into a wide variety of consumer products, from pacemakers to glasses to cars.
Developing new habits can be hard. Breaking an old habit can be harder.
In 2022, a new study shows that you can change an old habit by using a simple technique: interrupt the behavior.
In a recent study conducted at the University of Chicago, researchers showed test subjects a series of slides, some featuring positive life changes and others featuring negative ones.
When the participants were shown the slides featuring the negative moments, their brains responded by activating the amygdala, which is the brain’s emotional control center.
This technique is often used in behavioral psychology, in which an individual is given a task, such as taking a walk or brushing one’s teeth, and is interrupted in the middle of the task.
This interruption forces the individual to immediately stop what they are doing and turn to another task.
Researchers have found that interrupting the old habit can help break it in a single go.
Over the course of the year, you’ll find yourself repeating certain habits, such as brushing your teeth before heading out the door in the morning.
When this happens, simply use the interrupt technique to break the old habit and make space for a new one.
When you head out the door each morning, brush your teeth, but don’t put toothpaste on.
When you leave for work, start your car, but don’t drive.
What’s more, by being conscious of your own habits, you have the ability to break them before they become too ingrained.
By identifying when you’re about to engage in behavior that’s no longer serving you, such as brushing your teeth when you don’t actually have toothpaste on, you have the opportunity to interrupt the behavior before it becomes a habit.
Then, when you find yourself automatically engaging in the same behavior each day, you have the power to change it.
Over time, this will help you form new positive habits that will serve you long after the old ones have been broken.
