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Y00R BRAlN
F0RTY PR CNT 0F VRYTHlNC Y0UD0l5 lNV0LUNTARY.
U5 TH LAT5T 5ClNC T0UlLDWlNNlNC HAlT5, RAk
HARMFUL R0UTlN5 ANDMAk 5UCC55 AUT0MATlC
Rlt the gymmere
0clng th rlght thlng ls aslr lf ycu turn lt lntc a
hablt. Rsarch by US nurcsclntlst 0r Ann
Craybl| shcws that nura| actlvlty ln th
rglcn cf th braln rspcnslb| fcr
hablts ls trlggrd at th bglnnlng
(cul and nd (rwardl cf a hablt.
0urlng th hablt lts|f th braln
runs cn autcpl|ct. P|ac ycur
gymklt by th dccr (th cul
and njcy a pcst-wcrkcut
smccthl (th rwardl and
ycu'|| prcgrss tc a rgu|ar
mcrnlng gymrcutln (th habltl.
Werk smerter
Wl||pcwr ls a flnlt rscurc. |n a J99B
study ln th !ourncl C] Pcrsonclity And
Socicl Psychology scm subjcts wr
a||cwd tc at ccckls whl| cthrs wr tc|d tc
rslst thm. 1hy wr thn st a tcugh wcrk task ln th
fcrmcf a gcmtry puzz|. 1hcs whc rslstd th
ccckls gav up J2 mlnuts ar|lr. Wl||pcwr, |lk a
musc|, bccms fatlgud frcmcvrus sc tack| ycur
hardst tasks bfcr |unchtlm cr at th start cf th wk.
Eet better Iunches
Changlng ycur |unch nvlrcnmnt can lmprcv ycur fccd
chclcs. A 2005 study by 0uk Unlvrslty ln th US
rva|d that 45cf hablts ar rpatd ln th sam
|ccatlcn. 'Mcst pcp| dcn't ra|ls that th rascn thy
at fast fccd at |unch ls bcaus thcs actlcns ar cud by
thlr dal|y rcutlns, th slght and sm|| cf th fccd cr th
|ccatlcn thy'r ln,' says psychc|cgy prcfsscr Wndy
Wccd. Fatlng a ma| ln a cantn rathr than at ycur
snack-frlnd|y dsk cr strlng ycur |unchtlm wa|k away
frcmthat rcwcf takaways wl|| smash th bad hablts.
Run jurther
1h scrt tc fcrmlng gccd hablts ls tc start sma||,
acccrdlng tc Stanfcrd Unlvrslty's 0r B! Pcgg (tlnyhablts.
ccml. '|f ycu dcn't mak ycur bhavlcur tlny ycu wl||
a|mcst crtaln|y fal| tc crat a dal|y hablt,' says Pcgg.
Hls mthcd lnvc|vs startlng sma|| tc r|as pcsltlv
mctlcns thrcugh succss, and anchcrlng ycur hablt tc an
xlstlng rcutln. Pcgg startd a hablt by dclng twc prss-
ups vry tlm h pd. Ncwh dcs J00 prss-ups a
day. Bgln a runnlng hablt by puttlng ycur tralnrs cn at
th start cf vry |unch brak. 1hn mcv cn tc runnlng
up cn strt and gradua||y bgln tc gc furthr. Ycur run
wl|| qulck|y bccm abscrbd lntc ycur dal|y rcutln.
6B!UNL 20J4menstness.ce.uk
0rlnk
Iess beeze
Make better dec|s|ons us|ng
'|mp|ementat|on |ntent|ons'.
Pormu|ated by psycho|og|st Peter
Co||w|tzer, these resemb|e
p|ans: '|f |'moffered a dr|nk, then |'||
order ha|f a p|nt', '|f |'mst||| |n the
pub at 9pm, |'|| dr|nk water'.
1hey automat|ca||y overr|de
frag||e |ntent|ons.
Wcrds Mark a|ley
5eve mere meney
Sndhl| Mu||alnathan, a Harvard ccncmlst
and cc-authcr cf Sccrcity. Why Hcving Too
Littlc Mccns So Much, b|lvs that flnancla|
prcb|ms |ad tc shcrt-trmtunn| vlslcn, whlch
mans w strugg| tc s bycnd cur prsnt
prdlcamnt and rulns savlngs stratgls. '1h
psychc|cgy cf scarclty ngrcsss us ln cn|y
cur prsnt nds,' says Mu||alnathan, whcs
studls hav shcwn that mcny wcrrls can
caus an |drcp cf J3-J4 pclnts. 1c cutwlt
th bad hablts cf ycur mcny-trcub|d braln,
h suggsts ycu sav mcny by sttlng up a
dfau|t systmthat autcmatlca||y slphcns cff
a |ltt| ach mcnth - ccnsldr lt an '|ctrcnlc
hablt'. Mu||alnathan's studls a|sc shcwthat
flnancla| scurlty |vats ycur prcb|m-sc|vlng
skl||s, sc ycu'|| autcmatlca||y upgrad ycur
braln pcwr as w|| as ycur bank acccunt.
Thlnk mere cIeerIy
Fvr wcndrd why Barack Obama cn|y wars
gry cr b|u sults7 'Ycu nd tc fccus ycur
dclslcn-maklng nrgy,' h cnc sald. 'Ycu can't
b gclng thrcugh th day dlstractd by trlvla.' H's
rlght. an Amrlcan study rva|d that subjcts
whc wr askd tc mak |cts cf sma|| dclslcns
cn a qustlcnnalr mad mcr rrcrs ln
subsqunt ca|cu|atlcn tsts. Sklp ptty vryday
chclcs, such as whlch shcs tc war cr what
f|avcur cf ycgurt tc buy, and ycu'|| fr up mnta|
bandwldth tc pcndr th lmpcrtant stuff.
5hep senslbIy
A study by BrlghamYcung Unlvrslty ln th
US rva|d that shcpprs wlth a hlghtnd
sns cf ba|anc autcmatlca||y chcs a mld-
rang prcduct frcma rang cf cptlcns. '|f
ycu'r scmcn whc tnds tc cvrspnd
mayb ycu cught tc ccnsldr shcpplng ln hlgh
h|s,' says study authcr Prcfsscr !ff Larscn.
Pcrtunat|y th h|s arn't strlct|y ncssary.
th rsarchrs cbtalnd thlr rsu|ts by asklng
shcpprs tc mak buylng dclslcns whl| |anlng
back cn twc |gs cf a chalr cr whl| standlng cn
cn fcct. 1h study suggstd that ba|anc ls
'mtaphcrlca||y |lnkd ln th mlnd tc th ccncpt
cf parlty'. 1ry a fwphyslca| ba|anclng drl||s
whn ycu shcp and ycu'|| lnstlnctlv|y
b mcr mnta||y ba|ancd tcc.
5neck mere heeIthlIy
Ycu can mastr ycur cravlngs by bul|dlng
nwnura| pathways, acccrdlng tc Lcrtta
Brunlng, authcr cf Mcct our Hcppy
Chcmiccls (|crttabrunlng.ccml. Nura|
pathways can b bul|t by 'rwards', such as
th fat and sugar ln chccc|at, whlch r|as
happy chmlca|s, but thy can a|sc dv|cp
thrcugh rptltlcn. '|f ycu rpat a nw
bhavlcur fcr 45 days, th |ctrlclty ln ycur
braln wl|| start surglng dcwn th nwpath
ycu'v cratd fcr lt,' says Brunlng. Start
atlng a handfu| cf nuts whnvr ycu crav
a snack and ycu'|| sccn hav bu|glng nura|
suprhlghways that a|ways quat snack
tlm wlth ha|thy, prctln-rlch nuts.
menstness.ce.uk!UNL 20J469
Wl Y0U BAlN

8eest
seIj-dlsclpIlne
Lxerc|s|ng regu|ar|y - not
sporad|ca||y - w||| automat|ca||y
upgrade your 'se|f-regu|at|on', or |n
other words your capac|ty to overr|de
undes|rab|e responses. Regu|ar
exerc|sers made fewer |mpu|se buys, |ost
the|r temper fewer t|mes, watched |ess
1V, m|ssed fewer appo|ntments and
even d|d more wash|ng up, accord|ng
to a 2006 study |n the British
1ournct oj Hectth
Psychotogy.
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