The habit variation technique

The Problem with Adaptation: Why an Over-Repeated Habit Loses Its Impact

Our brains have a great capacity for adaptation. This is good for many things, but it can be a problem with positive habits.

When we repeat an activity that initially made us feel great, its emotional impact tends to diminish. It's the same principle of hedonic adjustment that we saw with happiness.

Definition: Reserve 1-3 high-impact habits only for when you need a "push"

The habit variation technique consists of not "burning out" our most powerful resources. It involves identifying one, two, or three habits that we know have a very strong and positive impact on our mood.

And instead of practicing them daily, we reserve them for specific times. We store them away as a kind of emotional "get out of here" button.

Examples: specific meditation, breathing exercise

Some examples of these high-impact habits might be a specific guided meditation that we find especially powerful (like Tony Robbins' "Priming" exercise).

Or an intense session of a breathing method like Wim Hof's. Or maybe a physical activity that we love but don't do often.

The goal: to have an "get out of here" button to get out of a bad emotional state

The goal of this technique is to have an ace up our sleeve.

When we find ourselves having a particularly bad day, when we feel stuck or unmotivated, we can turn to one of these reserved habits.

Since we haven't practiced it recently, its impact will be much greater. It will give us the necessary "push" to break negative inertia and change our emotional state.

Summary