Cognitive psychology is the science of how we think. It’s concerned with our inner mental processes such as attention, perception, memory, action planning, and language.

The Basics The area of psychology that seeks to understand how the brain affects behavior is known as biopsychology, although you may also hear this subject referred to as psychobiology or behavioral neuroscience.

Biopsychology is a branch of psychology that analyzes how the brain, neurotransmitters, and other aspects of our biology influence our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.

The brain is an organ but the mind isn’t. The brain is the physical place where the mind resides. The mind is the manifestations of thought, perception, emotion, determination, memory and imagination that takes place within the brain. Mind is often used to refer especially to the thought processes of reason.

Traditionally, scientists have tried to define the mind as the product of brain activity: The brain is the physical substance, and the mind is the conscious product of those firing neurons, according to the classic argument. But growing evidence shows that the mind goes far beyond the physical workings of your brain.

Most people resist change because it threatens their natural habit patterns. Whether it’s a new role, a new boss, a new car, a new diet or new routine, your brain has to work overtime to learn to adapt to the change. The more ingrained you are in the old way of doing things, the longer it takes to form new habits.

Behavior change is complicated and complex because it requires a person to disrupt a current habit while simultaneously fostering a new, possibly unfamiliar, set of actions. This process takes time—usually longer than we prefer.

People resist change because they believe they will lose something of value or fear they will not be able to adapt to the new ways. It’s a significant change to their daily routine, which is deeply emotional because it threatens their level of safety and security.

Neurons located in the habit formation region fire at the beginning of a new behavior, subside while the behavior occurs, and then fire again once the behavior is finished. Over time, patterns form, both in behavior and in the brain. This can make it extremely difficult to break a habit.

Long-term behavior change is one of the hardest challenges we’ll ever face. 1. We’re motivated by negative emotions. Negative emotion may trigger us to think about everything we’re not doing, or feel like we’re doing wrong, but it’s horrible fuel for making changes that stick.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s

How to Start a New Routine and Stick To It

1. Decide what needs to be in your routine. Do you want to get more exercise or more alone time?
2. Set small goals. Break each large goal into smaller goals.
3. Layout a plan.
4. Be consistent with time.
5. Be prepared.
6. Make it fun!
7. Track your progress.
8. Reward yourself.

Changing up the routine and incorporating something fun that they enjoy doing could help bring enjoyment and happiness to one’s day. This happiness can improve brain function as it allows one to get a break from the monotony and experience enjoyment.