Habits have a
profound impact on our lives. They are behaviors we repeat, sometimes
automatically, and by repetition, their effects accumulate. It would be great
if our habits supported us in being the people we want to be, and if they did
not reinforce things we would like to change. James Clear describes how habits work and a
system for getting them to work for you in Atomic
Habits.
Before working on habits,
you need to work on beliefs. Beliefs always win out, and your
habits are, to a degree, a manifestation of your beliefs. Fortunately, working
on habits can support new beliefs about yourself. You can set up small wins
that support your belief in your new identity.
You can also give
yourself a break by taking the focus off goals, which can seem overwhelming.
Instead, focus on systems. Focus on the things you do,
especially the things you do repeatedly, that move you toward being who you
want to be. Instead of noticing the gap between where you are and a goal, you
can encourage yourself by noticing the progress you make.
Clear describes the
process of habit formation. It starts with a cue,
which triggers the brain to start a behavior in anticipation of a reward. We experience a craving, a motivation or desire for the reward. As a response, we
perform the habitual behavior. Finally, we get a reward that satisfies the
craving. Unfortunately, that reward may not satisfy us in helpful ways. We can
take advantage of this system to reinforce new behavior patterns and interrupt
old patterns.
We can take advantage of
the cue by making them more obvious (to trigger wanted behavior) or making them
invisible (to prevent the triggering of bad habits). We can rig the craving by
making the potential reward more or less attractive. We can make it easier or
more difficult to perform a habitual behavior. We can also make the reward more
or less satisfying. To superpower these strategies, we can stack them.
In his book, Clear
provides several ways to implement these strategies for making and breaking
habits. As you develop and implement your habit change strategy, Clear encourages
you to seek sweet spot. It will be challenging, and that sense of challenge can be a
great motivator, but if you take on to much at once or too large a change, you
are likely to experience a failure that can be disheartening. Little wins are
great rewards, especially when the feel earned, so seek changes that you can
realistically achieve, but that you’ll need to stretch to reach.
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