Buổi 2: Reading – T/F/NG ở bài đọc dài: suy luận vừa đủ (thói quen hình thành thế nào)

Why habits stick – and why they don’t

(Bài đọc tự viết; nhà nghiên cứu và khảo sát là giả định.)

A Every January, millions of people promise themselves that this will be the year they exercise regularly, eat better or read more. By February, most of these promises have been quietly forgotten. Psychologists who study behaviour change are by no means surprised. In their view, the problem is not usually a lack of desire, but a misunderstanding of how habits actually work.

B A habit, in simple terms, is a behaviour that has become automatic: we do it without having to make a conscious decision. Researchers often describe habits as having three parts. First, there is a cue – a situation, time or feeling that triggers the behaviour. Then comes the routine itself. Finally, there is some kind of reward, which makes us more likely to repeat the behaviour next time the cue appears. Checking a phone when we feel bored is a familiar example: boredom is the cue, scrolling is the routine, and a moment of entertainment is the reward.

C According to behavioural scientist Dr Laura Benn, many attempts to build good habits fail because people rely almost entirely on willpower. “Willpower is real, but it is far from reliable,” she explains. “It tends to be weakest at the end of a long day, which is exactly when many people plan to go to the gym.” Benn suggests that instead of trying harder, people should make the desired behaviour easier – for example, by preparing sports clothes the night before or keeping fruit, rather than biscuits, on the kitchen table.

D Another common mistake is starting too big. In a small study run by Benn’s team, volunteers who wanted to exercise more were divided into two groups. The first group set ambitious targets, such as running for forty-five minutes four times a week. The second group began with just ten minutes of walking after lunch each day. After three months, hardly any members of the first group were still following their plan, whereas most of the second group were not only walking every day but had gradually increased the length of their walks.

E It is not necessarily true, however, that small habits always grow into larger ones. Some volunteers in the second group stayed at ten minutes for the whole three months and showed no interest in doing more. Benn admits that her study was short and involved only a few dozen people, so its results should be treated with caution. She is now planning a larger study lasting a full year.

F Finally, researchers stress that setbacks are a normal part of the process. Missing a day does not mean that a habit has been destroyed. What matters, Benn argues, is consistency over time: people who return to their routine quickly after a break are far more likely to succeed than those who see one missed day as a sign of failure and give up altogether.

Personal Development Plan – Q1