1. The Power Compounding
Tiny, consistent improvements—getting just 1 percent better every day—compound into massive results over time. Success is not the product of a single, once-in-a-lifetime transformation, but of daily habits. I like to think about putting points on the scoreboard: Reading a chapter in a book instead of scrolling social media, that’s a point; going on a walk instead of having dessert that you don’t need, that’s a point; and so on.
2. Focus on Systems That Point Towards Your Goals
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Goals are great, but they create an “either-or” scenario where you are either successful or you fail. Certain goals can be detrimental, especially if the goal isn’t 100% decided by your actions, like winning a game. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are about building processes that make progress in that direction.
3. Become the Type of Person Who Does the Thing
The deepest and most effective form of behavior change is changing your identity—what you believe— the idea is not to perform a habit, but to become the type of person who performs that habit (e.g., “The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader”). Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become, and your identity emerges out of your habits.
4. Lacking Motivation? Change Your Environment
Motivation is a finite resource and changing your environment could be an easy fix. I used to work at a bar, taproom, and bottleshop for a while and it’s not surprising that I drank more than I should have. Not excessively but significantly more than the 0-2 per week that is recommended. When I left that job it was so much easier to drink less. It doesn’t have to be about avoiding bad habits either, you can prime your environment to help you read, workout, or drink more water. You want to read more, have your book out in the open, on your bed or where you sit when you watch tv. You want to work out more, have a home gym and put things in places you usually hang out around the house, a pair of dumbbells by the TV, a few exercise bands by your desk, and a pull up bar on a doorframe you walk by a few times a day and use these things when you walk by them. You can do the same thing with a few water bottles.
5. The Four Laws of Behavior Change
(1) Make it Obvious, (2) Make it Attractive, (3) Make it Easy, and (4) Make it Satisfying. If you’re having trouble with trying to answer the questions, how can I make it obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying? Think about answers to the inverse: how would I make it invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying?
6. The Path of Least Resistance
We naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of effort. Knowing this it is a good idea to design your life so the actions that matter most are also the easiest to do, making the good habit the path of least resistance.
7. Habit Stacking
Everyone has habits, if you want to add a new habit it is good to stack them with habits you already have, writing it down clearly and intentionally is good. The formula for this is: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].”
8. Remove or Add Steps to Bad Habits
A good way to eliminate bad habits is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it. It’s much easier to avoid temptation than resist it. This is the “secret to self-control”: spend less time in tempting situations, often by simply making the cues of bad habits invisible or adding steps to get to the bad habit. An example that I use is when I want to do something and I know I could get distracted by my phone. I have it in another room.
9. Awareness Through the Habits Scorecard
The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. A practical tool is the habits Scorecard, at the beginning of a given day write down all your actions throughout the day(you don’t have to do this daily, just every once in a while). At the end of the day ask yourself for each thing you wrote, does this get me closer to the person I want to become? And add a (+) next to it if it does, a (-) if it doesn’t and a (=) if it doesn’t have an impact, then look at all the (-) and ask yourself what can I do to make this activity more difficult to do in the future? Like if after you got up one of the first things you did was check your phone, maybe the answer would be charging my phone outside of my bedroom at night. Also don’t forget to congratulate yourself on the (+) and if you want you could ask yourself the question: what can I do to make this easier to do in the future?
10. Stack Your Wants with Shoulds
There’s a new show on Netflix that you really want to watch? Stack that with a productive should, like folding laundry or walking on a treadmill or pedaling a stationary bike(you can easily get these free on facebook marketplace or craigslist). Or you want to scroll Instagram for 5 minutes after doing 25 minutes of work on a project you know you should be working on. This is the pomodoro technique, make sure to set a timer for this one, you could easily scroll for an hour after 25 minutes of work if you’re not careful.
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