Simple ways to improve self control and develop good habits

What can help to stick to a good intention? A relevant question for many people because good intentions often stay just that… intentions. Whether it is about going to the gym after a hard day’s work or about that glass of wine that you intended not to drink today; the soft comfortable sofa and sharing a good bottle of wine with your friends is often so much more appealing. So you give in. Ah well. There is always tomorrow.

Counsellors are often confronted with clients who really intended to do something, but unfortunately did not come around to actually doing it. The side effect of not sticking to an intended action is that the client can start to feel he is a loser. His confidence and his trust in his ability to change for the better are diminished. On top of the problem he came to counselling with, he gets the surplus problem of low self esteem and lack of confidence.

There are some fairly simple scientifically proven tools available to enhance self control and to stimulate sticking to a good intention. The first is called implementation Intention. Here’s what it is and how it works.

Implementation intention: how does that work?

Implementation intentions are simple action plans stipulating where, when, and how one will perform an intended behaviour. Implementation intentions look like this: “ if I come across situation X, I will perform behaviour Y”. Implementation intentions have been found to promote goal directed behaviour (Gollwitzer et al 1999).

Adriaanse et al describe their research results in this article regarding breaking bad habits using implementation intentions. In the example of the intention of NOT having that glass of wine, the implementation intention can look something like this:” if my friend offers me a glass of wine I will explain I would rather have some fruit juice which I have brought with me”. Adriaanse et al (2011) wondered if implementation intention would indeed work when wanting to change bad habits. The problem with bad habits is that they consist of behaviours which are triggered immediately under certain circumstances and are acted upon almost without conscious thought. Would it indeed work, Adriaanse wondered, to replace the habit of eating crisps in front of the television with a better habit of eating an apple? The problem with breaking habits is that your brain has made very strong links between the situation and the bad behaviour: TV? Crisps! That’s the link you don’t want. Instead you want your brain to go: TV? Apple!

Suppose your implementation intention would be:” if I watch TV I will eat an apple”, where your current bad habit is:”if I watch TV I eat crisps”, which thought would win the battle of popping up in your mind first? The mental process of the implementation intention (apple), or the mental process of the bad habit (crisps)? Adriaanse et al found the following hopeful results in three large scale studies.

Implementation intentions are effective when it comes to overruling the cognitive representation of the bad habit (crisps) with the better implementation intention (apple). Simply put: “if I watch a film I will have a cup of green tea” turns out to be a good way to break the habit of drinking wine when watching TV. The mental link between film and wine is being slowed down and the mental link between film and green tea wins.

Would you like to try if it works for you? This is what Adriaanse did in her research:

1. Think about which unhealthy habit you would like to change and which healthier habit you would like to replace it with (e.g. apple instead of crisps when watching tv)
2. Formulate your intention like this:”if I am in situation X (trigger) I will perform behaviour Y (healthy behaviour)”.
3. Visualise yourself performing your alternative behaviour in the specific situation in which you want to develop your new healthy habit
4. Write down your plan and your better behaviour in detail

After having done this it would also be good to increase your self control. Here is a simple way to help yourself to do just that.

Change your thinking to global and abstract

Fuijta et al (2006,2008) also offers interesting insights in how to help yourself to increase your self control. He found that self control can be improved by taking an abstract, global perspective on a situation. Keep an eye on the bigger picture when making simple daily decisions. You are reluctant to go to the gym, for example, and you are not in the mood. Then you think about your ultimate goal, which is to feel fit and healthy. If you get on with it this evening, this will contribute to reaching your goal. With that in mind it suddenly gets easier to get yourself on your bike. Through abstract reasoning you prevent yourself from dwelling on the (unpleasant) details of your current situation. Instead you start thinking about how this specific situation fits with your overall goals. It turns out that this sort of abstract thinking improves your self control. You don’t think about how much you hate cycling in the rain, but instead you think about the image you want to have of yourself: fit and healthy. Taking into account the bigger picture, global and abstract thinking improve your daily self control.

Try it? Let us know how it worked!