I was reading an article published recently about research into habits and the best way of changing them. At this time of the year we are prone to m

I was reading an article published recently about research into habits and the best way of changing them. At this time of the year we are prone to make and quickly break our New Year resolutions. The research has simple answer as to why we break then so quickly. The researchers Woods and Neal from Duke university start their article with the quote" Most of the time what we do is whatwe do most of the time" This is because our lives are made up of millions of short cuts that we have generated to help us cope. These short cuts are unconscious behaviours we carry out without thinking. We refer to them as habits. However many habits may be past their "sell by date" and hence causing us to fail to achieve the things we really want. The researchers say the approximately 45% of what we do in a day is repeated in the same location and at the same time. If you are a little disbelieving as I was think about your morning and evening routine and the figure soon adds up.

So what is to be done? Give up on those New Year resolutions? Well, one key tip Woods and Neal give is to use the nature of habits to help you. So rather than trying to stop what you don't want to do, focus instead on what you do want and form a new habit that gets you to your goal. It is said that a new habit is formed in approximately 30days so keep at it and soon what you want will be behaviour that you do automatically.

Good luck with the New Year resolutions!