The Atlanta Lawyer August/September 2019 | Page 28
W
e all have things
we do to avoid
discomfort
of
change
and
growth. Excessive
shopping, surfing
the
internet,
binge-watching
tv.
Checking your phone/social media
news feed over a dozen times a day.
Change feels scary. Our brain has evolved
to repeat what we know, to be efficient, and
to avoid expending excess energy required
to do something new. And so, we've
developed habits that keep us stagnant.
How do you know if your guilty pleasures
have spilled over into negative habits that
keep you stuck? Negative consequences.
Watching your favorite show Friday nights
may feel like brain candy, but if you have
a nagging feeling that it's taking you away
from your exercise goal or getting training
that would significantly help your career,
then binge-watching is no longer your
friend. Think of activities that feel good
but have major negative consequences
as having three characteristics: they’re
habitual, produce a dopamine response
and facilitate avoidance. If you always pick
up a chocolate muffin with your coffee on
the way to work, pick up your phone five
times an hour, or pour a glass of wine
as soon as you get home, that’s a habit.
When one thing works fairly well, we
keep doing it because it’s easier to follow
established neuropathways than create new
ones. It’s like your brain says, “you didn’t
get eaten by a tiger today, so do exactly the
same thing tomorrow and survival is likely.”
Wellness Check:
Are Your Habits
Holding You
Back?
JULIE ERNST, ESQ
Julie Ernst, LLC
Certified Weight Loss & Overdrinking Coach
[email protected]
my political leaning. Habits, combined
with positive reinforcement of dopamine
release, create a strong biological urge to
continue doing the same thing over and
over, despite our knowing intellectually
it contributes to an undesired result.
Negative habits can be a symptom of
avoidance. What would you be doing if you
didn’t spend hours each week watching tv
or looking at your phone? What if you did
exercise, lose weight and stop drinking so
much? You might be faced with what to do
with your life. You might change the parts
that make you anxious or doubtful.
The muffin, your phone and wine all
produce a dopamine hit. Sugar and white
flour activate the same areas of the brain
as heroin, flooding the brain with feel
good chemicals. Your brain reinforces
the action so you want to do it again. Here’s the deal: Life involves feeling the
highs and the lows. You can’t have one
without the other. When you are healthier,
sober, or in a new job or relationship, you
will still have times when you feel bad.
It’s part of the full human experience.
Before I deleted my news app, I was
spending upwards of three hours a day
checking the latest news stories, feeling
triumphant with each piece that confirmed The good thing is that awareness is
power. Becoming conscious that you’re
comforting yourself with food, alcohol,
Netflix, FaceBook, etc., and you’re
getting a negative result is Step One.
28
August/September 2019
Step Two is to consider what you’re avoiding.
Imagine what life would be like if you
changed your behavior. Ask yourself what
would be better or worse. If you aren’t sure
why you’re overeating (or over drinking
or over using your phone), the fastest way
to find out is to stop and see what comes
up. It won’t take long. Then you can get
to work solving the real underlying issue.
Visit https://julieernst.com to sign up for the
Weight Loss for Attorneys Free Video Course:
The Three Things You Must Know to Lose
Weight.