Our year started by turning fresh ideas into polished goals, waking those first days bright-eyed and coffee-fueled, ignoring the frigid cold, ready to take on the world. Our new fitness plan was going to burn off those dreaded extra holiday pounds or our pledge to quit smoking, drinking, or spending too much time on our phones was taking shape. Then the goal hit a snag. Research shows that New Year’s resolutions rarely make it past the second month, and eventually re-building areas of our life gets pushed aside with intentions of trying again next year. Building a positive habit doesn’t need to wait for the ball to drop. With the right approach, anyone can master the process of forming habits that last.
One of the more popular nonfiction books in recent years, Atomic Habits takes a simplistic approach to the not-so-simple phenomenon of building or breaking habits. James Clear, the well-known blogger turned habit guru, narrows the process of habit formation into four scientific laws, using the metaphor of minor increments of potential energy compounding over time to create life-changing results.
The first law states to make it obvious (or not obvious). Habits are easier to create when the cues are unavoidable. If the goal is to read more, get an exciting book and put it on a chair, bed, desk, or wherever it will be visible. Then prioritize time for the habit, even if it’s only a few minutes. If the goal is to eat more fruits and vegetables, stock the fridge with the essentials where the snacks would normally go. Or if the goal is to spend less time on the phone, put it in another room during dinner or important work that requires focus.
The second law says to make it attractive. Ever see a young player score their first goal? Parents go crazy, teammates swarm, and the coach gives a power high five. Are the reactions the same for giving an assist, blocking a shot, or making the bed? Behaviors that produce positive reactions inspire repeated behaviors. Positive habits can also be reinforced by the environment and people who support them. If we surround ourselves with fitness enthusiasts, we’ll want to go to the gym more. If we join a book club, our reading patterns will increase.
The third law says to make it easy. Action goals are the activities that progress us closer to our main goals. Often, habits fail because the expectations don’t align with our abilities. We tend to overcomplicate things. If the goal is to run a half-marathon by the spring, we wouldn’t normally start out by running 13 miles on day 1. Yet we approach many goals the same way. Lessen the complexity by focusing on the act of getting out of bed a half-hour earlier, putting the running shoes by the coffee pot, or laying out the gear the night before. Create small wins, and over time they’ll turn into bigger wins. Incremental action steps are the key to sustaining the larger habit.
The fourth law states to make it satisfying. What’s a win without a champagne shower and Queen’s “We Are the Champions?” When we make it six miles on a run without stopping or read a challenging book, we can celebrate by doing something enjoyable. Spent four hours without mindless scrolling on social media? Put another dime in the vacation jukebox, baby. Expanding the second law, the most fulfilling part of turning actions into habits is recognizing success so the behavior becomes even more desirable. Eventually, we wake up in the morning craving those positive rewards.
This all sounds legit, but how do we measure success? How do we know when we’ve progressed to a new level. Clear makes a compelling case for habit tracking, one of the simplest tools for maintaining our motivation and focus, and also a habit in itself. Here he writes about the power of habit tracking:
A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit. The most basic format is to get a calendar and cross off each day you stick with your routine. For example, if you meditate on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, each of those dates gets an X. As time rolls by, the calendar becomes a record of your habit streak.
Countless people have tracked their habits, but perhaps the most famous was Benjamin Franklin. Beginning at age twenty, Franklin carried small booklet everywhere he went and used it to track thirteen personal virtues. This list included goals like “Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful” and “Avoiding trifling conversations.” At the end of each day, Franklin would open his booklet and record his progress.
Jerry Seinfeld reportedly uses a habit tracker to stick with his streak of writing jokes. In the documentary Comedian, he explains that his goal is simply to “never break the chain” of writing jokes every day. In other words, he is not focused on how good or bad a particular joke is or how inspired he feels. He is simply focused on showing up and adding to his streak.
Maintaining the flow of action goals is integral to achieving new habit success. Tracking holds us accountable. Doing the activity and recognizing completion keeps the habit formation at the top of our mind. Over a period of time, those repetitive actions eventually evolve from a conscious to an unconscious activity. We can track anything. Gym goers track lifts or cardio sessions, some with the use of technology. Salespeople track phone calls and emails. Teachers track achieved lesson objectives. Business owners track transactions. It doesn’t matter the size of the activities we track, seeing the daily commitment maintains our focus. Even when there are days we miss, and there will be days we miss, starting a new streak without an implosion gets us closer to automaticity.