Habits

Author of Atomic Habits James Clear is a bit of a Guru when it comes to habits. It's his specialty area and he has many excellent insights and strategies to share. The video below gives a great overview of some key factors to successfully building new habits.

Here are some key takeaways from the video:

• Habits are the compound interest of self improvement. Even a 1% change can make a difference, a 1% change compounds over time and you can end up at a very different place.
• We do not rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems. Habits are the system behind the goal. 
• Take whatever habit you’re wanting to achieve and scale it down to a small thing you can do each day.
• How long does it take to build a habit? The hard truth is - FOREVER. Once you stop doing it, it’s no longer a habit. How long will it take before it becomes easy? Habits are not a finish line to be crossed, they are a lifestyle to be lived. Look for lifestyle changes that you can sustain.
• The environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behaviour. So many of our habits are just a reaction to the cues that are in our environment. eg. walk into the kitchen, see a plate of cookies, and eat one. How can you change your environment to set yourself up for success?

Habit Strategy - ​try it

MAKE IT EASIER ON YOURSELF

The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impossible to do. And the best way to create a good habit is to automate it so you never have to think about it again. ​

There are certain one-time-actions you can take to help make forming new habits, or stop repeating old habits. These are actions that set yourself up for success.

James surveyed his readers on their favourite onetime actions that lead to better long-term habits. Here are a few of the popular answers…
​
Nutrition: Use smaller plates to reduce caloric intake.
Sleep: Remove your television (or phone) from your bedroom.
Productivity: Delete games and social media apps from your phone.
Focus: Set your phone in Do Not Disturb mode.
Happiness: Get a dog.
Health: Buy better shoes to avoid back pain.
Finance: Visit a Financial Advisor and set up a budget plan, with checks and measures in place.
​
These illustrate a range a simple onetime actions... you're only limited by your imagination, what could you do to make a habit easier to form?

Habit Strategy - ​try it

THE HABIT SCORECARD

James says, "One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing." We don't see the consequences of bad habits in the moment, but they can sneak up on us. Creating a Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behaviour, and then modify it.

Follow James's instructions below on how to create a habits scorecard.

To create your own Habits Scorecard, start by making a list of your daily habits.
Example:

• Wake up
• Turn off alarm
• Check my phone
• Go to the bathroom
• Weigh myself
• Take a shower
• Brush my teeth
• Floss my teeth
• Put on deodorant
• Hang up towel to dry
• Get dressed
• Make a cup of tea

... and so on.

Once you have a full list, look at each behaviour, and ask yourself, “Is this a good habit, a bad habit, or a neutral habit?” If it is a good habit, write “+” next to it. If it is a bad habit, write “–”. If it is a neutral habit, write “=”.
For example, the list above might look like this:

• Wake up =
• Turn off alarm =
• Check my phone –
• Go to the bathroom =
• Weigh myself +
• Take a shower +
• Brush my teeth +
• Floss my teeth +
• Put on deodorant +
• Hang up towel to dry =
• Get dressed =
• Make a cup of tea +
  
  

The marks you give to a particular habit will depend on your situation and your goals. For someone who is trying to lose weight, eating a bagel with peanut butter every morning might be a bad habit. For someone who is trying to bulk up and add muscle, the same behaviour might be a good habit. It all depends on what you’re working toward.

An important side note:

Scoring your habits can be a bit more complex than just stating good, bad, or neutral.
James says,  'The labels “good habit” and “bad habit” are slightly inaccurate. There are no good habits or bad habits. There are only effective habits. That is, effective at solving problems. All habits serve you in some way—even the bad ones—which is why you repeat them.'

When completing your Habits Scorecard, you should categorise your habits by how they will benefit you in the long run. Generally speaking:
 - Good habits will have net positive outcomes.
 - Bad habits have net negative outcomes.
eg. Smoking a cigarette may reduce stress right now (that’s how it’s serving you), but it’s not a healthy long-term behaviour.
​
Still having trouble deciding if a particular habit is good or bad, here are two pertinent questions to ask yourself:

“Does this behaviour help me become the type of person I wish to be?"

“Does this behaviour move me closer towards, or further away from my goal?"