There’s an old truism that goes…

“Thoughts determine actions, actions determine habits, and habits determine futures.”

You can think of this saying as a simple formula for how the brain develops habits.  First, there is a thought, which is followed by some action.  If this action is taken consistently over some period of time, a habit is formed.

Let’s consider a real world example.

You decide that you really should exercise more (a thought), so you buy a treadmill at a garage sale (action).  You use the treadmill religiously, every morning for 30 minutes, for exactly 9 days.

Did you form a new health habit?

Of course you didn’t.

Why not?

Well, you only used the treadmill for 9 days, and 9 days of any action does not a habit make.

How long should you have kept it up to form a habit?

There is some debate on this, but most experts will choose 21 days as a minimum.

The bigger question, of course, is why did you only use it for 9 days when you KNOW using it consistently will improve your long-term health?

Are you lazy?  Weak-willed?  Genetically disposed to not exercise.  Doomed to fail?

No, to the first three questions.  Possible yes, to the last one.

Let me explain.  According to the very smart people at the National Institutes of Health, humans actually have three brains.  Don’t you feel smarter already?

The bottom of the brain, or brainstem, is sometimes referred to as the reptilian brain.  Not feeling so smart anymore, huh?

This part of the brain is responsible for life-support and keeps us breathing and our heart beating.  Pretty necessary for staying alive, but not too important in forming habits.

Above the brain stem is the midbrain, or mammalian brain.  This brain controls all aspects of feelings and emotions.  Contained within the mid-brain are the amygdala and the hippocampus.  You will soon see why these two little guys are really important in forming habits.

The rest of the brain is the cortex, or what Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie’s famous, Belgian detective) referred to as “the little grey cells.”  This is the part of the brain that makes us distinctively human.  It is where rational and creative thought occurs.  It governs our ability to speak, think, solve problems and learn.

OK, back to the two parts of the midbrain of interest to us - the amygdala and the hippocampus.

The amygdala controls the “fight or flight” response.  This part of the brain takes over, and effectively shuts down the cortex, when we sense that we are in danger.  There is no weighing of pros and cons here – just quick decisions to allow immediate action.

Long ago, the danger may have been a saber-tooth tiger crossing our path on the way back to the cave.  Today, danger might be having to speak in front of a group.

To your cortex, there is no comparison between these two situations, because one is clearly a threat to your life.  And the other… well, it just FEELS like a threat to your life.

To the amygdala, however, there is no distinction made between these two dangers.  Why?  Because to the amygdala, anything that seems out of the norm is considered a danger.

Humans are not the biggest, fastest, or strongest animals on the planet.  Nor do they have well-developed capabilities of sight or smell.  To survive the dangers of living in the wild, this built-in ability to sound a danger alarm every time you encounter something “different” was pretty handy.

What’s in the grass over there?  A snake?

Sound the alarm, engage the amygdala.  Surely, it will know what to do in this situation. Amygdala says, “Jump out of your skin and scream like a little girl.”  Done.  There – danger avoided.

Asked to give an impromptu speech at a staff meeting?

Sound the alarm, engage the amygdala.  Surely, it will know what to do in this situation.  Amygdala says, “You are preparing to fight.  Empty the bladder immediately (might not get a chance later).  Drain all saliva from your mouth (digestion is not needed right now).  Open the adrenaline flood gates (we are going to need extra energy for this fight).”

Just decide that you are going to end your sedentary ways and use your treadmill every morning for a minimum of 30 minutes for the rest of your life?

Sound the alarm, engage the amygdala.  Amygdala says, “Danger Will Robinson!  This is BAD!  Not the norm.  Must be avoided.  Take immediate action to prevent getting on treadmill every morning.”

Next thing you know, you are too tired to get out of bed to exercise.  Really.  You planned to the night before, but you are just so inexplicably TIRED.  Or, for some unknown reason, your left knee is killing you.  Or, wouldn’t you know it, you woke up with a sinus headache.  Everyone knows you can’t get on a treadmill with a SINUS HEADACHE for crying out loud.

This is your amygdala in action.  It is doing EXACTLY what it was designed to do. React to danger.

What’s dangerous?

Anything that takes you way out of your comfort zone.  It is not because you are lazy, weak-willed or genetically disposed to not exercise.  But, if you don’t understand how the amygdala works, and manage it carefully, you may be doomed to failure in any attempt to develop a new habit or change an old one.

How does one effectively manage it?

We’ll get to that in minute, but first, let’s talk about the hippocampus.  The hippo-what?  The hippocampus.  Which is not, by the way, a school at the zoo.

The hippocampus, just like our friend the amygdala, is also located in the midbrain.  It is important for converting short-term memory to more permanent memory.  It decides what information to store, and what to retrieve.  The main criterion for whether information is to be stored is repetition.

	Quick… what is 7x7?  4x6?  2x5?
	Can you sing the Big Mac song?  OK, if you weren’t a kid in the 70’s, can you sing Yankee Doodle?
	Why do you have instant access to this information?
	Were you just brushing up on your multiplication tables yesterday?
	Is it time for lunch and you had a craving for a Big Mac?
	Were you rehearsing for your part in your local Fourth of July parade?

No?  Well, then how did you instantly conjure up information your learned in your childhood?

The hippocampus took information provided to it in the form of short-term memory and converted it to long-term memory, allowing you to access it at any time.

Why did it do this?

Because, YOU told it to.

How?

By repetition.

OK, maybe it wasn’t your idea to memorize your multiplication tables over and over and over again.  You can thank your grade school math teacher for that.  Regardless of WHO wanted the repetitive action to be taken, you did it, thus repeatedly telling your brain the same information many times until it got the message that this was information that was important and should be stored for easy retrieval at some later time.

Unlike, say the names of the 10th and 11th Presidents of the United States (John Tyler and James Polk, in case you are interested).

Now, let me ask you a very important question.

Who was the 13th President of the US?

Why am I asking you this?

To prove a point.

I am pretty sure that unless you’re a US history buff, you probably don’t know the name of the 13th US President.

When you read the question your brain instinctively went to the information archives and searched for the answer.  It either came up with the answer, or came up with a blank.

If it came up with the answer it is because you have been told the answer, or read the answer many times.  If it came up with a blank, you either never knew the answer (poor Millard Fillmore), or your brain did not get the message to store this particular information, because there was no repetition to the data input.

Now, before we leave our little “brain” lesson of the day, I promised to tell how to “manage” the amygdala.

Here’s a hint. It does NOT involve big, bold actions.

The trick is to take very small, seemingly insignificant steps towards the goal.  If these steps are small enough, the amygdala will not take over.  Taking consistently small steps toward a larger goal, allows habits to form almost effortlessly and in less time than you might expect.

Since the steps are small, the amygdala does not sense danger.  Therefore, it allows you to continue taking the small steps.  If the steps are repeated consistently, the hippocampus will retain the information, and a habit will form.

This understanding of brain function was used in developing the Million Dollar Body Challenge™.

Let’s look at how it works.

But, before we do that, let’s look at some other options for helping our children develop healthy habits.

First, let’s consider the Food Pyramid, which is trotted out in our schools as the panacea for teaching children how to eat properly.

First test – does teaching it alarm the amygdala?

Of course, it does. Just look at it. It’s geometry, algebra and fractions all rolled into one little ball.  Since it is so boring, the amygdala response in children is apathy.  In adults, it is avoidance.

Second test – does it allow repetition?

Well, let’s see… on Monday I am going to combine ½ cup cooked dry beans, with ¾ cup of juice, 1 cup leafy raw vegetables, 2 ounces of cheese, and 1 slice of bread.  That’s lunch.  I still need to figure out breakfast and dinner.  Since my brain is already hurting, and I want to have a life in addition to figuring out what to eat every day, I better just come up with one meal for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner and eat them… EVERY DAY.

I guess it allows repetition.  No spontaneity.  No diversions.  No fun.  Now, to be fair, I was using the “old” food pyramid.  The new one is much easier to use.

OK.  Lunch on Monday will be 2 ounces of whole-grain bread (must now remember that this is my “orange” food), ½ cup of orange vegetables (must now remember that this is my “green” food), 0.75 cups of banana (must now remember this is my “red” food), 1 cup of milk (my “blue” food), and 2 ounces of fish (my “purple” food).

Well, this is going along swimmingly, wouldn’t you say?

Can you now see why the majority of the US population is familiar with the Food Pyramid, but <5% actually eat according to its guidelines?  Actually, I believe the percentage is even lower, but some people always want to report that THEY are doing the right thing!

This is just not a user-friendly tool!  Cased closed.

Let’s look at another example.

You decide that your child is watching entirely too much TV and you should really limit it.  So…you tell your child that from now on, he will only be allowed to watch ½ hour per day.

For those of you that haven’t tried this, here’s what happens.

You explain your decree to your child.  The attentive look on his face rapidly turns to shock, horror and finally complete, full-blown terror.  Yes, your child’s amygdala has been awakened.  What do you think the likelihood is that repetition will even be given a fighting chance?  Let’s just say that the old proverbial snowball has a better chance of staying frozen.

Now, let’s look at the Million Dollar Body Challenge™.

What does your child do?

First:  He or she reads a short book that tells them the 5 most important things they need to do to have a long and healthy life. These are presented as “secrets."

Why secrets? Because “secrets” are much more interesting to kids than say “important health rules."

Next:  They learn that all food can be given a letter grade of A, B, C, or D. Simple examples are given to help them learn how to grade their food.

	An apple?  A.
	An apple snack pie from the Quickie Mart down the street?  D.

After a little practice, they can quickly choose what to eat.  And, they understand very well how it will affect their health today and tomorrow.

Simple.

Notice, they are learning to CHOOSE their own food. They begin to choose healthy foods, because they WANT to.  Why?  Because no kid wants to consistently get C’s and D’s.  Even if it is only in some health challenge, and will never be a part of their permanent record.

Next:  They use a simple workbook and spend a week figuring out where they are in relation to the “secrets.”  Getting enough sleep?  Drinking enough water?  Choosing A and B foods more often than C and D foods?

To help them put their choices into context, they assign simple dollar amounts to their choices.  Actually, they just circle the correct amount.

This step takes something obscure to the average child (am I getting the proper amount of rest for optimum brain and body functions tomorrow?), and puts it into a context that they understand – money.

They are shown a simple path to build a Million Dollar Body Challenge™.

How long it takes to build this Million Dollar Body Challenge™ is a direct function of the choices they make.

Want to make REASONABLY good choices, MOST of the time?

Great.

You build your Million Dollar Body Challenge™ by age 18.

Not interested in making some reasonable choices?

OK. You get your Million Dollar Body Challenge™ at age 55.

It’s up to them.

After that, they spend one week on each “secret” with the goal of improving in this area – just a little bit.

Small changes.  Nothing drastic.  No pressure.

Sound familiar?  Think their amygdala is activated with this approach?  Nope.  Unless, of course, either you or your child have perfectionistic tendencies, and insist on big changes right away.

DON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!!

Think repetition occurs?

Yup.

Long enough to form or change habits?

Yup.  Again, provided you, or he, don’t push too hard too fast.

Do you see how this program works with your child’s brain, and not against it?

A simple tool, to teach simple concepts, to form simple habits, to create a simply healthy life.

Think it’s too simple?

Let me just leave you with two quotes from Albert Einstein.

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

And...

“When the solution is simple, God is answering.”

Now, you aren’t going to argue with the wisdom of Albert Einstein are you?

I didn’t think so.