InFluential_Magazine_May_June_2017

EXCLUSIVE FEATURE
behavior, the neural pathway weakens over time, as you
consistently resist the habit. This is why it’s often hard to
get back into your workout routine after being on a long,
lazy vacation, those neural pathways for your exercise
routine weakened when they weren’t engaged regularly.
So, what about those people who seem to find it so easy
to exercise or have only one serving? Are they somehow
wired for healthier habits or stronger willpower? No. What
they have are stronger neutral pathways, established over
years of repeated action, for the behaviors of working out or
eating moderately. In my case, I see this in my long habit of
exercising early in the morning: I go to the gym every day at
5 a.m., and I have for years. As a result, I do so automatically,
without thinking or emotion. While there are certainly
mornings when I wake up and think, Gosh, I’m tired; I really
don’t want to exercise, the neutral pathway I have developed
for exercise over the years more persistently reminds me,
You always feel great after you work out.
Cue, Action, and Reward
Habits always present in three parts: cue, action,
and reward. The cue is the signal that prompts you
to engage in a behavior; the action is the habit itself;
and the reward is what you get from engaging in the
habitual behavior.
Usually, if we want to quit a behavior, we focus on the
action by telling ourselves to stop whatever that behavior is:
do not eat pizza for dinner. But researchers believe we can be
more successful if we look instead at the cues encouraging
us to engage in certain behaviors and then tweak them. If
you’re trying to avoid pizza, instead of driving home past a
favorite pizza restaurant, change your route to take you past
a juice bar or other healthy option, or make sure you have
fruit or another satisfying healthy snack in your car.
One of my clients has devised a helpful cue for herself to keep
her workouts on track: knowing she needs as few obstacles
as possible on her path to working out, she puts on her gym
clothes as soon as she gets up in the morning. She knows she
is more apt to get her run in if she is already dressed. Once the
gear is on, running is almost inevitable, so being dressed in her
52 FLUENTIAL MAY / JUNE 2017