How to kickstart a habit by Brian Keane
In his Amazon bestselling book ‘The Fitness Mindset’, health expert Brian Keane explains how to create positive habits and break negative ones. A former London school teacher and fitness model, Brian Keane takes influence from the author, Charles Duhigg’s system of habits. He refers to the ‘routine – cue – reward’ system which claims you can effectively change a habit by changing one of the components of this system.
“For me, the routine of coming home from work was always going to be the same, so I changed the cue. Instead of automatically reaching for chocolate bars in the cupboard, I left a pre-packed gym bag beside the front door. I would come home (routine), pick up my gym bag (new cue) and the (reward) came via the serotonin release from exercise.”
Becoming self-aware is key
Brian Keane believes that becoming self-aware of your negative behaviour, patterns and habits isn’t always easy. He says, “It is essential to recognise which habits are supporting you and which ones are destructive to your life. Reading books, using podcasts and following the right people on social media is crucial to change as they can ‘point’ things out in a way that you have missed or failed to see.”
“Deep-rooted habits are more difficult to change but it’s the small things every day that allows you to change these habits. By taking the right steps consistently, you could be rid of them forever.”
BRIAN KEANE
Aristotle wrote, “We are what we repeatedly do”. Brian maintains that with enough practice and repetition any behaviour, good or bad becomes automatic over time.
To make the right automatic choice, Brian Keane reveals, the key is educating yourself what are good choices for your body and mind and to create healthy habits accordingly. Over time your choices will become automatic.
“For example, if you eat healthily, those food choices become automatic and sticking to a good nutritional plan becomes a habit. Finding or creating a plan that includes your preferences – food you enjoy and that works with your lifestyle and schedule becomes the way you eat and not a diet you are following.”
Brian Keane’s advice is to reflect on how deeply your habits are rooted and then put a plan in place to create new positives ones.
It all seems pretty simple, but I know that I am the first to swap a coffee for a red bull when I am tired. To drink caffeine instead of water during the day. A bottle of wine when I said I was going to abstain during the week.
“It is essential to recognise which habits are supporting you and which ones are destructive to your life”
‘The Fitness Mindset’
Brian Keane’s new book, published by Rethink Press is available to order on Amazon. The book reveals the best tips and strategies improve your health, lose weight and maintain the mindset to reach your body goals.
In its first 24 hours of sale, ‘The Fitness Mindset’ became an Amazon Best Seller.