New Year Resolutions
This is the time of year many of us are hard at work achieving (or maybe still trying to decide on) our goals for the year.
A few years ago I came across a book that changed my thinking on this: Atomic Habits, by James Clear.
I’ll leave you with a few takeaways:
In professional sports, the team with a 1-15 record has the same goal as the team who goes 16-0. What’s the difference? It likely has a lot to do with the teams’ systems (habits)
You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems (Ch. 1)
You want ultimately arrive at an identity rather than a goal - a goal is a temporary success but your identity will last (Ch. 2)
Anticipation of a reward activates those reward centers in your brain more intensely than the reward itself (goal) (Ch. 8)
What is a habit? - A behavior repeated enough times that it becomes automatic (Ch. 3)
Behavior change starts with awareness. You aren’t likely to change your habits if you aren’t aware of them (Ch. 4)
Why is it hard to start good habits? - Because the pain is now and the reward is in the future (ie: working out)
Why is it hard to stop bad habits? - Because the reward is now and the pain is in the future (ie: overeating)
What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided (Ch. 15)
How to start good habits: Make it 1)obvious 2)attractive 3)easy 4)satisfying (Ch. 2)
New habits are easier to start in a new environment (Ch. 6)
New habits should take less than 2 minutes to do (easy) (Ch. 13)
Exercise 30 minutes days -> Start with: put on my workout clothes
Write a book -> Start with: write a sentence every day
How to break bad habits: Make it 1)invisible 2)unattractive 3)difficult 4)unsatisfying
It’s easier to avoid temptation (environment) than resist it; self-control is a short-term strategy (Ch. 7)
Create an environment where doing the best thing is as easy as it can be, and where doing the wrong thing is harder (Ch. 12)
Repetition is more important than time spent. Practice is more effective than planning. (Ch. 11)
Standardize before you optimize - you can’t improve a habit before it exists (Ch. 13)
Track your habits - you’ll be motivated to keep the streak (Ch. 16)
Don’t be afraid to use technology to automate your habits (Ch. 14)
We are most motivated when we are working at the edge of our abilities; failure is less of a threat than boredom (Ch. 19)
As habits become ingrained you can stop paying attention to errors…Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery (Ch. 20)
