5 Strategies to Build Good Habits
1) Set the Bar Low
Christine Whelan, a public sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says, “We all usually make a laundry list for everything we want to do differently and then attempt to change them all at once.
That’s a recipe for failure. You can basically do one at a time. If you’re going to go to the gym, that’s the one thing you’re going to do.”
The temptation for to turn over major leaves in our life is huge, however we are much more likely to be successful at changing one habit a month for 12 months than we are at changing 12 habits come January 1st. Start small. Focus on one thing. And in the words of blogger Leo Babauta, “Make it so easy that you can’t say no.”
2) Make “micro quotas” and “macro goals”
Creating healthy habits is a very similar process to this quote by Henry David Thoreau. Basically, Thoreau said, “If you’ve built your castles in the air, don’t worry, that’s where they belong. Now go build the foundations.”
99U author, Gregory Ciotti, developed this concept of “micro quotas” and “macro goals.” What he meant by that is that, “your goals should be the big picture items that you wish to someday accomplish (castles in the sky), but your quotas, are the minimum amounts of work that you must get done every single day to make the bigger goal a reality (the foundations). Quotas make each day approachable, and your goals become achievable because of this.”
If you’re wanting to run a marathon, perhaps you run 5 miles a day and increase the mileage by 1 mile a week as part of your training. Perhaps you want to write a book and you commit to writing 500 words a day. What is the castle in the sky you’re dreaming about? What are actions you can do every day to move the need forward on it?
3) Stack Habits
One approach to switching from a bad habit to a better one takes advantage of the mechanics of synaptic pruning. As we discussed earlier in this guide, our neural connections are built and discarded based on our activities. It follows that you have many good habits that enjoy a strong network of neural synapses to support them. When you choose a new habit to replace an old one try to tie it to one of your established patterns.
This is a concept called “habit stacking” where you “stack” one new habit with one, already ingrained in your normal routine. For example, every morning I practice yoga. When I wanted to incorporate a meditation practice, I “stacked” it with my morning yoga practice, which had at that point, 7 years of strong neural patterning.
Journaling Activity
Take 5 minutes to journal on the different “staples” in your day. What are the things you do every day like clockwork that you could stack a healthy habit onto? This could be your morning coffee, your commute to work, even going to the bathroom.
4) If/Then
The if/then technique will support you when you are faced with triggers that could encourage either a healthy or unhealthy response. The more healthy habits you can “automate”, meaning that they happen automatically rather than requiring willpower, the more likely you’ll be to achieve them.
The if/then technique helps you automate these positive responses by doing a little prep work. For example, if you want to drink less alcohol and exercise more, you could create an if/then scenario. IF I am asked to happy hour, THEN I will go to the gym instead. IF I feel an urge to eat a piece of chocolate, THEN I will go for a walk with my dog around the block.
Tech Tip: NYU psychology professor, Gabriele Oettingen developed an App called WOOP (Wish-Outcome-Obstacle-Plan) that guides you through a number of steps helping you to specify the “if” parts and the “then” parts of the “if-then” plans needed.
5) Make Tiny Habits
Psychologist B.J. Fogg removes some of the fear we experience with the prospect of making a change in our behaviors. When it comes to breaking old habits and creating new ones. He encourages people to take small steps toward their desired goal.
Fogg has come up with what he calls Tiny Habits. One of his famous resolutions was, every time he went to the bathroom, he did three pushups. He automated the habit. So, instead of going to the gym for an hour, he did 30 push ups a day, getting the benefit of a workout without having to think about it.
For example, let’s say you want to feel happier. Expressing gratitude is one proven way to boost happiness. Using the list of daily “staple” activities you already created, you could pick one of them and use it as a cue to say one thing that you’re grateful for today. For example, “When I sit down for dinner, I say one thing that I’m grateful for today.” That’s the type of small behavior that could blossom into a more grateful outlook on life in general.
Below is the format BJ uses to introduce tiny habits into his life. Notice that he’s using Leo Babauta principle, “Make it so easy that you can’t say no.”
What is one tiny habit you could begin? And what could you stack that habit onto?
