Have you ever set yourself a goal that you have been unable to achieve? I certainly have. Choosing to do something is generally easier than the practice of actually carrying out our decision. That is because goal setting is not a one-off decision, it is just the first of a series of decisions. Decision-making itself is a cyclical process.

As a professional coach, who has worked with hundreds of clients, I can attest to the fact that most common life goals succeed or fail around the issues of habits. We might choose to get fitter or eat healthier, but the challenge is that every time we are faced with a doughnut, or the chance to veg out on the sofa them we face another choice, and our early decision (and future goal) are threatened. So, what do we do?

The answer is creating good habits. In neurological terms, a habit works as a short circuit in the brain that makes choices easier. But first, we must construct the required decision-making routine. To make effective decisions and to build good habits you should understand the psychology of the process.

Charles Duhigg, in his book The Power of Habit (2013), shows that we need to identify the habit loop of any given behaviour. We need to know the cue (the stimulus), the routine (or action) and the reward (the payoff). Once we understand the cues to behaviours, we can experiment with rewards to instil new routines.

This podcast explains how to apply each step with examples.

If you would like to find out more then do check out the accompanying article:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-build-supreme-habits-and-compound-good-decisions/