Buddhist neuroscientist Judson Brewer says quitting bad habits cold turkey can be miserable. Instead, he suggests using a three-step approach to retrain your brain.
When we try to quit a bad habit or replace it with another action, neither method gives us the same degree of satisfaction. Brewer, director of research and innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center, shares his strategy for overcoming unhelpful behaviors through mindfulness practices.
According to Brewer, our brain creates space in our mind when we become disenchanted with bad habits or addictions. By retraining our brain, we can devalue a specific habit in three steps:
Identify the behavior you want to change and what causes it. Recognize your bad habit loops, such as procrastination during stressful periods.
Evaluate how you feel when doing the habit. Ask yourself, “What am I getting from this?” Chances are, there are more consequences than rewards you haven’t consciously thought about before.
Find a big-picture reward by exercising curiosity over why you’re drawn to the habit. By thinking about your habits in a broader context – why you’re feeling the craving, how your body and mind respond – you can regain cognitive control and guide your actions towards change.
Brewer’s approach is more effective than cutting yourself off from a guilty pleasure or relying solely on self-control. Mindfulness practices have been linked to higher self-compassion, life satisfaction, and overall well-being. By retraining our brain in this way, we can achieve long-term changed behavior rather than just temporarily suppressing the habit.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/09/ivy-league-neuroscientist-how-to-actually-quit-bad-habits.html