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Most of our lives are governed by our habits.
Do you know that feeling of being on autopilot? 
When we’re taking our morning showers or 
brushing our teeth, we hardly need to think 
about what we’re doing at all. Why? Because 
we’ve turned these necessary daily activities into 
habits – that is, tasks we’ve done so often that 
we can do them automatically.
In fact, a lot of our daily activities are governed 
by habit. According to a study from Duke 
University, 45 percent of our behaviors are 
habitual.
We’re especially prone to falling into habitual 
behaviors when we’re stressed.
This was demonstrated in another study at 
UCLA that uncovered our tendency to revert to 
habitual behavior when under pressure, tired or 
overwhelmed. Unfortunately, this happens 
whether the habits are good or bad for us.
Why does stress affect us in this way? Well, 
stress is often the result of being unable to make 
certain decisions.
Habits, however, are something we don’t have to 
make decisions about. They are pre-
programmed into our daily life. When stressed 
and incapable of making a decision, we resort to 
our habits. If you often find yourself chatting 
online or eating donuts when stressed, chances 
are that they’re habitual behaviors. Perhaps you 
wish they weren’t!
If so, there’s good news: bad habits can be 
changed. After all, habits are nothing more than 
neural pathways in the brain. They get thicker 
the more they’re used, and deteriorate when 
neglected. You create your own habits simply by 
repeating activities until they get easier and 
easier.
So, if you want to start getting up earlier in the 
morning, the first few weeks will be a struggle 
because those neural pathways are still weak. 
But soon enough, your brain will strengthen the 
connection between waking up and getting 
straight out of bed, while the habit of rolling over 
and going back to sleep becomes weaker and 
weaker.

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Before you know it, your neural pathways will be 
doing all the work for you, leaving you bright-
eyed and ready to start the day.