Change Academy

Breaking Highly Rewarding Habits


Listen Later

Some habits are just habits. We do them because they take us down the road of least resistance. But some habits give us pleasure, and we often think of those habits as being more like an addiction - something that is going to take willpower and determination to break. But what if we told you that you can break a highly rewarding habit without resorting to a monastic lifestyle? That is what we are going to cover in this episode.

Key Takeaways: 

  • Breaking any habitual behaviour can be challenging but when that habitual behaviour is highly rewarding, it can be even more difficult.
  • Sometimes things that were once rewarding become less rewarding (or more costly) over time--but they’ve become habitual.
  • Replacing a rewarding (but costly) habit with a different rewarding activity can make it easier to break a habit
  • We can create a more rewarding life by choosing our habits (and our rewards) more intentionally.

Lab Experiment: 

  1. Make a list of activities that you find rewarding or that give you pleasure. Make it as comprehensive as you can.
  2. Review your list and put an X next to anything where the cost (in time, money, energy, or health) is greater than the reward you get--or even just more than you want to pay.
  3. Review your list again and put a checkmark next to those things that would make your life better if you did them more often.
  4. How can you use this information to create positive change?

NB: For more detailed instructions, listen to the audio.


Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more.

★ Support this podcast ★
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Change AcademyBy Monica Reinagel

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

137 ratings


More shows like Change Academy

View all
Money Girl by QuickAndDirtyTips.com

Money Girl

1,842 Listeners

Nutrition Diva by QuickAndDirtyTips.com, Monica Reinagel

Nutrition Diva

1,715 Listeners

Dishing Up Nutrition by Nutritional Weight & Wellness, Inc.

Dishing Up Nutrition

854 Listeners

Get-Fit Guy by QuickAndDirtyTips.com

Get-Fit Guy

678 Listeners

Good Life Project by Jonathan Fields / Acast

Good Life Project

3,330 Listeners

Savvy Psychologist by QuickAndDirtyTips.com

Savvy Psychologist

1,365 Listeners

Happier with Gretchen Rubin by Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

12,888 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,327 Listeners

Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement by Justin Malik

Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement

3,065 Listeners

Optimal Health Daily - Fitness and Nutrition by Optimal Living Daily | Dr. Neal Malik

Optimal Health Daily - Fitness and Nutrition

687 Listeners

Happier in Hollywood by The Onward Project

Happier in Hollywood

2,444 Listeners

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

14,272 Listeners

Food, We Need To Talk by Juna Gjata

Food, We Need To Talk

2,019 Listeners

Your Mama’s Kitchen by Higher Ground

Your Mama’s Kitchen

2,303 Listeners

Try This by The Washington Post

Try This

323 Listeners