TLDR

Successful habits are the hallmark of a successful person. It’s not necessarily that successful people are more determined than the rest, they have just figured out the 1% that works best for them and using brain science to their advantage.
Through focusing on the 1% of improvement towards the outcome you want, you can celebrate the little wins that create a snowball effect that we may not see the impacts of right away.
The process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the actions towards the belief build up, so does the evidence of your hoped for identity.

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement... It’s only when looking back years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent.”

— James Clear

The Intro

Have you ever said the statement “I will start ___ tomorrow” and said it the next day, and the next, and the next...? (You’re not alone!). What is great about this is that you have noticed a need for change but are in a little bit of a stuck point in how to get there. You, my friend, might be in the learning curve space. That point where things feel like a mountain climb (A) for the change you want (B).

Habits: a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic.

Atomic Habits: a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do, but also the source of incredible power.

In Atomic Habits by James Clear, he delves into the practicals of how to aid yourself in creating habits that will let you live the life that you want. Although I would encourage you to give the book a read, this article summarizes some of my key takeaways (The Information) with a few additional activities from the author and myself (The Practicals) to make the process of creating effective habits easier. My hope is that this article will help you find the stuck areas in attempting new habits and finding ways that you can create systems that are good for you (essentially making it feel like going from a mountain climb to climbing up a hill).

The Information

If we look at habit change from dominant society's story about habit change, many would say if you are struggling with being “disciplined” or “not having enough self-control”. Even when scientists studied self-control they found that those who were “disciplined” or “having self-control” to spend less time in tempting and/or triggering situations.

What is happening biologically that makes these habits so powerful? Ye ol’ dopamine which helps with lots of things including pleasure, motivation, learning, memory, punishment and aversion, and voluntary movement. The more dopamine, the more attractive or pleasing the habit is resulting in the habit being powerful. When wanting to take a peek at your existing habits to see what would benefit from change would be to pay attention to the cues, cravings, response, and rewards inherent within that habit. Here’s a quick run down:

Cue: something happening in the environment

Craving: motivational response the habit delivers

Response: the action of completing the habit through a thought or an action

Reward: the end goal of any habit as they teach and satisfy us (dopamine especially important here!)

Change is hard for the human brain. Why? Well, brains are wired for efficiency to reduce energy consumption. Our brains work as association machines though linking past experiences, environmental cues, and beliefs/morals to create the response we notice externally. Our environment has the power to change things, for the helpful or the unhelpful and is typically from one of three sources: the close (those we have spent a lot of time with or see in our day to day lives), the many (those within our social surroundings), and the powerful (those who we deem as successful). Depending on how our body interprets (based on who we are surrounded by and the experiences we have) the environment through the senses changes (if we view things as pleasurable, challenging, overwhelming, joyful, or just ok). But why do we get stuck in these?

Habits are “autocatalytic” or cyclical for both helpful and unhelpful habits/systems. How can you support change within an unhelpful habit/system - make the cue to the habit near invisible and understand the craving that is trying to be filled.

Changing habits can be challenging for two reasons:

1. We try to change the wrong thing

2. We try to change our habits in the wrong way

Outcomes = what you can outwardly see

Process = how you go about something

Identity = where your beliefs, assumptions, biases, morals, and values are held

When thinking of habits, Clear offers two ways that habits can be formed: outcome-based habits and identity-based habits. Now, I’m not here to say one is “good” or “bad” - both are helpful depending on the circumstance.

Outcome-based habits work from the goal or concept and frame processes to result in that identity. One helpful example is if you are wanting to calm down (outcome) and use a coping strategy of your choosing (process) to accomplish that task of “I am calm” (identity). Another example could be that the outcome you want to have is to be rich (outcome) and to get there you buy fancy clothes, big house, and new car (process) to be able to say “I am rich”.

Identity-based habits inverse this and focus on what things you possess (values, beliefs, morals, assumptions, etc.) and how you can use them to achieve the outcome that you want. Some questions to consider to explore this are “what values or traits do I believe that these people have?” additionally to connecting to your own set of values. If you would like a little more understanding of how to find these things, you can click here for my values activity. Through thinking how you would like to approach your habit, you are able to put motion (planning, strategizing, and learning; gives illusion of progress) to action (what provides the outcome).

The Practical

Get stuck in the loop of “I will start ___ tomorrow” and find words to be impactful? Maybe try out saying an implementation intention through thinking of a plan prior to the action happening. Some examples include:

- “I will [ACTION/BEHAVIOUR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]”

- “It would be helpful for me to [ACTION/BEHAVIOUR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]”

That doesn’t seem like your jam but you want to add a new habit to an existing one (ex. Remembering to make your medication), you could try habit stacking through paring an existing habit with a new one that aligns with you and the time you wish to execute that activity. Get stuck at procrastination station (too much thinking and planning with not enough doing)? Try the two-minute rule to create a “gateway” habit and practice the art of showing up for the habit/change. Another way for those stuck at procrastination station could be to automate what you can. Have a prescription? Set up automatic refills and ensure that they notify you when it is ready. Have a hard time having a spend/save balance? Set up automatic transfers to various accounts so its done for you. Having a challenge with craving a certain thing (such as cleaning the kitchen) but get stuck trying to motivate you? Try associating the challenging feelings with a positive experience such as listening to music, lighting a candle while you do the task, taking pet snuggle breaks. Another way is to change the language you use from “I have to clean the kitchen” to “I get to clean the kitchen”.

All in all, this takes trying a new thing, practice, and being open to the process. And with time, you’ll find the challenging transform into manageable, resulting in more ease and greater fulfillment. I believe in you!

“Certainly, you are capable of doing very hard things. The problem is that some days you feel like doing the hard work and some days you feel like giving in. On the tough days, it’s crucial to have as many things working in your favor as possible so that you can overcome the challenges life naturally throws your way. The less friction you face, the easier it is for your stronger self to emerge. The idea behind make it easy is not to only do easy things. The idea is to make it as easy as possible in the moment to do things that payoff in the long run.”