The Secret to Making Good Habits Stick and Bad Habits Disappear
In Atomic Habits, James Clear says effective habits have four traits. They are obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.
Also, you can stop unproductive habits using the opposite of each trait. This means make them hidden, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying. As he unpacks each criteria, he adds a few other tips:
Identity helps root a habit. Being a punctual person carries more weight than trying to be on time. I worked with a technician who, whenever I ask her why she was so late, she would reply, "That's just who I am." She saw tardiness as an inherent quality, so she struggled to build a productive habit. When she allowed the possibility of becoming a punctual person, her performance improved.
The key metric is repetitions, not time spent. Spending thirty minutes writing doesn't mean much if all I'm doing is staring at a screen. Writing five hundred words every day benefits me more. Allotting time isn't the goal. Finishing the blog post is.
What is incremental is also cumulative. Reading one page of a book each day might not seem like much. If you stick with it every day, though, you'll have managed to read three hundred sixty-five pages after a year. This should cover at least one book, and the knowledge you gain can pay dividends going forward.
Motion and action are not the same. Being productive can look busy, but being busy doesn't mean you're being productive. A trap I fall into is repeating marketing classes instead of reaching new prospects. Reading more books on marketing doesn't land clients. The sales pitch I develop after reading the books does.
Change out the obsolete habits. A big myth with a good habit is "set it, then forget it." What worked for you ten years ago won't work for you now, and what works for you now might not work ten years from now. People who grow work to improve everything in their lives, including habits.
Takeaways:
Your system is an extension of yourself. Designing a system helps you amplify your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. To avoid forgetting my water bottle on my way to the gym, I placed it by the garage door so I would grab it on my way out.
Your system is an expression of yourself. The system you design for yourself reveals a lot about who you are. Your willingness to invest in one is the first sign you have motivation. Having a system in place says you are being productive and staying on track with bigger goals.
Your system is a complement of yourself. Your system gives you discipline when your willpower runs out. Setting up cues to engage in desired behaviors minimizes reluctance and laziness. In turn, you can enjoy benefits like improved diet and physical fitness.
Your system is a compliment of yourself. Implementing a system shows you have self-awareness, initiative, creativity, and resourcefulness. By setting up a successful system, your system sets you up to succeed as well.
Clear provides a book which is easy to read, understand, and apply. Starting with small changes leads to significant ones after enough time. Are you willing to experiment in system design? You'll be surprised at what happens if you mimic what Clear has done for himself. For me, I had struggled to journal every day for a while. To make the habit stick, I did the following: 1. Kept the notebook on top of my desk with a nice pen (obvious), 2. Told myself two to three sentences would suffice (easy), 3. Thought about the relief this mind dump would give me (attractive), and 4. Texted my friends who were holding me accountable to this when I finished (satisfying). I've been consistent ever since!
