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Mastering Habits That Stick: Strategies for Aligning Your Actions with Your Values

Writer's picture: Jessica SukhuJessica Sukhu

By: Jessica Sukhu


Building lasting change in our behaviors, particularly those that align with our values, is a gradual process. Many of us face obstacles—both internal and external—on the journey to adopting positive, values-based behaviors. However, there are techniques we can use to foster growth and overcome these hurdles. This blog explores how we can use committed action, environmental structuring, and reinforcement strategies to develop habits that make us feel proud and connected to our core values via ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy).


 

The Role of Committed Action and Feeling Pride

  • Committed Action and Mastery: Committed action involves staying dedicated to behaviors linked to your values, even when obstacles arise. This type of action can lead to feelings of mastery and pride when we successfully push through difficulties.

  • Reflect on Past Successes: Think of a behavior that you're proud of, one that was hard to maintain but important to you. Reflect on the many times you've faced challenges and persisted. Remember the sense of pride and accomplishment that came when you succeeded.


Today's Practice: Preparing for Obstacles

  • External Obstacles: Some obstacles are beyond your control, like unexpected events or other people's actions. It’s important to prepare for these by anticipating challenges and having a problem-solving mindset.

  • Internal Obstacles: Internal obstacles, such as feelings of doubt or resistance, are also common. This is where the ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) skills come in. When faced with internal resistance, use mindfulness and acceptance strategies to acknowledge the feelings without letting them stop you from taking action.

  • Growth Through Obstacles: Each obstacle is an opportunity to strengthen your ability to adapt and grow. Embrace challenges as ways to build resilience and deepen your commitment to your goals.


Shaping Your Environment to Support Valued Actions

  • Environmental Contexts: Our environment has a significant impact on our behavior. While we can't control everything, we can modify our surroundings to make it easier to engage in behaviors that align with our values.

  • The Cue-Action-Consequence Cycle: Behavior occurs in a sequence:

    • Cue: Something in your environment triggers a behavior.

    • Action: You perform the behavior.

    • Consequence: The result of your action either reinforces or discourages the behavior.


Cue ----> Action ----> Consequence


  • Example of Shaping Contexts: A person named Debbie realized that having the TV on would often lead her to watch it, even though she didn’t enjoy spending time that way. To reduce this behavior, she moved the TV to an extra room, making it harder for her to watch and thus less likely to fall into that habit.


Tips for Designing Cues for Desired Behaviors

  1. Structure Your Environment:

    • Make it easier to engage in positive behaviors and harder to engage in negative ones. For example:

      • Charge your phone in another room at night to avoid the temptation of late-night scrolling.

      • Store snacks or unhealthy foods out of sight to reduce mindless eating.

      • Place healthy foods or workout gear in easily visible places to encourage healthy habits.


  2. Pancake Your Habits:

    • Combine new behaviors with existing ones, like stacking a new habit on top of a well-established one. For example:

      • If you already drink coffee every morning, put your vitamins next to the coffee maker so you remember to take them with your coffee.


  3. Do Your Future Self a Favor:

    • Motivation can fluctuate, so plan ahead for days when you're not feeling as driven. For example:

      • If you want to eat healthier but feel too tired to cook after work, batch-cook meals over the weekend so they’re ready to go when you need them.


Creating Reinforcing Consequences

  • Reinforce Positive Behaviors: Once you’ve shaped your environment and started to engage in your desired behaviors, it’s important to reinforce these actions.

    • One way to do this is by tracking your progress and celebrating small victories.

    • Visualize your long-term goals and remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing.

    • Rewards can help solidify these behaviors and keep you motivated.


Building Your Support Network

  • Accountability and Support: It’s crucial to surround yourself with a support system. This could mean joining online communities or talking to friends and family about your goals.

  • Sharing Your Journey: By opening up to others about what you’re working on, you not only increase accountability but also receive encouragement and advice that can help you stay on track.


Next Steps: Flexibility and Adaptation

  • Be Flexible and Adapt: When trying to create lasting change, it’s important to stay flexible. Not everything will go as planned, and that’s okay. Adapt your plans as needed and be willing to revise your strategies based on what works and what doesn’t.

  • Continuous Growth: Over time, as you practice these techniques and reflect on your progress, you’ll continue to build stronger, more resilient behaviors aligned with your values.


 

Final Thoughts

This week’s exploration of committed action, environmental structuring, and reinforcement offers powerful tools for building habits that align with our core values. By structuring our environments to support these behaviors, using cues to trigger positive actions, and reinforcing progress with consequences, we can foster lasting change. With support from others and a flexible, adaptive mindset, we can navigate obstacles, strengthen our commitment, and celebrate the mastery and pride that come from consistent, values-based action.


 

References

Resource: 'ACT Journal' By: Diana Hill, PhD & Debbie Sorensen, PhD

Pages: 174-176, + 180, 183 & 186-187

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