Find Your Routine
“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.” — Unknown
Atomic Habits
We hear about habits all our life. The importance of them — the good ones, the bad ones. But we almost hear the word so much it becomes white noise and we lose sight of the value they have and how much they truly shape our lives.
Atomic Habits by James Clear has undoubtedly resurfaced and furthered my understanding of small daily habits. It reminded me how important it is to do little things every day that significantly help shape your overall well-being and success.
A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. The purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little energy and effort as possible.
The book is broken up into four sections of laws: Make It Obvious, Make It Attractive, Make It Easy, and Make it Satisfying.
Make It Obvious: Sometimes when you want to start a new habit you need that visual queue to signal your body to do something. For example, say you want to go on a jog, setting out your shoes the night before in an obvious place makes it so you almost have to put them on. Making it obvious helps your body and mind see that physical reminder of what you are trying to achieve. Controlling your environment is one of the most helpful things you can do for yourself if you are wanting a new habit. After a while, you won’t need to put your shoes out and you will just know to go on a jog. The key to changing or adding a habit is enjoying the journey rather than focusing on the end result. This mindset is crucial for effective implementation of a habit and it makes it much more enjoyable.
Make It Attractive: The key to continuing to do a habit to make it a part of your daily routine is making it irresistible. Reaching that level of dopamine when you experience pleasure not only from completing the task but anticipating it. The more attractive you make an activity, the more likely it is to become a habit. Finding someone to do certain habits with can be helpful for this as well. This can fit into your tribe. When you have a companion it becomes more exciting because you are completing these tasks with someone else, which becomes a bonding experience. However, some habits are more difficult to achieve than others. You can make the hard ones more attractive if you learn to associate them with a positive experience. This is a shift in mindset that can be difficult at first, but very effective if is done correctly. For example, many people associate exercise with being exhausting and difficult so their mindset is often, “ugh I need to go on a run today,” instead of, “It’s time to take time for myself, and feel good.” The way we view activities is more powerful than we think. Try habit stacking. This is an extremely useful tool. Rather than pairing a new habit with a particular time or place, pair it with a habit you already have. For example, if you want to start meditating try this, “After I pour my cup of coffee each morning I will meditate for one minute.”
Make It Easy: The more you do something, the easier it is. It’s as simple as that. It’s the frequency that makes the difference. Doing something ten minutes a day is much more effective than doing something an hour every few days. Trust me, this matters. The easier you make a habit the more likely you are to do it. Having the mindset of “I’m just going to go on a jog” is mentally a lot easier than “time to go for a run.” Once you jog many times maybe one day you will just run naturally. Another helpful way is to utilize your environment to help you. For example, if you are working at home, create an enjoyable space to do your work. Don’t cram yourself in the corner. A positive environment will not only make you happier but more productive. Adding any habits you want to do into a ritual is one of the best ways to make it easy and natural. These can even be for just a few seconds. They will get longer the more you do them because you will start to enjoy the ritual. For example, if you want to start putting your phone down and reading before bed. Just start with one page. Just one page a night and before you know it you will be at a chapter a night, but that’s because there is less pressure and more routine.
Make It Satisfying: Immediate satisfaction is what we need as humans to continue to do something. We need that reward. However, rewards can come in a variety of ways. If you are wanting to lose weight, don’t have your reward be food, have it be shopping, self-care, etc. Don’t contradict what you are trying to achieve. A reward can be as simple as tracking your habits. This is something I did that dramatically improved my results. I made a bullet journal that gave me visual satisfaction whenever I colored in a circle, meaning I completed my habit for the day. It sounds ridiculous and like it wouldn’t work, but it really does.