‘Old habits die hard’ is not even a partial truth

Let’s cut straight to the chase. If you have ever believed in the phrase ‘old habits die hard’ or if you have any kind of belief around being able to eradicate old habits, forget about it.

Research suggests that we can override bad habits with better ones but we cannot completely make the old habits go away. We cannot completely unlearn our habits as they are well etched pathways within out neural networks.

What does this mean or you and other students?

Well, let’s use an example to illustrate. The habit of procrastination is known to plague student populations the world over. I have no scientific evidence to prove this right now, but I have a hunch that if you were to ask every student you know whether they tend to procrastinate, you’ll be hard pressed to find one who doesn’t.

Going ahead with this very un-scientific approach, we can extrapolate that procrastination is not a unique problem to only a few select groups of students. (Do you like how I’m using important sounding words to cover the fact that we’re going off a hunch here? :P)

Now according to the research on habit formation, the only thing that can stop a serial procrastinator from, well, procrastinating is if they override this bad habit with a much more powerful one. The new habit much be triggered by the same cue and must provide the same reward. In addition, during times of stress, the former procrastinator must have measures in place to make sure that their old procrastinating days don’t spring back to life.

Maybe you can relate to this experience. You know how in the middle of the school term you might be totally on track with your study but the moment you find out about an upcoming exam, you procrastinate like crazy? On everything! In fact, the bigger or more important that the exam is, the more you procrastinate.

Even if you’ve managed to stop your habit of procrastination in general, it comes creeping back in times of stress (e.g. in the days before an exam). This kind of pattern shows that your habit of procrastinating has just been hibernating, waiting until the moment your defences were weakened before it pounces.

This, my friends, is why the notion of habits “dying” in any way is more of a myth than it is reality. The research conducted has suggested that even after a number of years have passed, really old habits can easily spring back to life in moments of stress.

Since much of your success in school and in your life will depend on your habits, I have dedicated an entire chapter in the StudyHacker book to help you understand the nature of habits and the research I’ve referred to. This chapter will also provide you with the skills to identify your current habits and to override bad habits with much more powerful ones. And, you’ll  even come up with a plan of attack so that your old habits do not revitalise during moments of stress.
Improving your grades could simply be a a matter of ending bad habits as it was for George and a number of other students I’ve worked with. Check out that chapter and if you have any questions about how to overcome your bad study habits, feel free to ask me at any time!