Category: Habits

Habits

This is the best way to add a new habit into your routine…

Chris Labs

Habit Stacking When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of behavior to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. Fogg’s habit stacking formula is: “After I [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].” Ex: After I take off my work shoes, I will immediately change into my workout clothes. -Atomic Habits p.72 Continue reading This is the best way to add a new habit into your routine…

Habits

The first step to change your habits is awareness

Chris Labs

But the cues that spark our habits become so common that they are essentially invisible. Here’s how to notice them. Pointing-and-Calling is so effective because it raises the level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level. Real life example: The Japanese railway system is regarded as one of the best in the world. If you ever find yourself riding a train in Tokyo, you’ll notice that the conductors have a peculiar habit. As each operator runs the train, they proceed through a ritual of pointing different objects and calling out commands. […] Before each train departs, … Continue reading The first step to change your habits is awareness

Habits

The breakdown of a habit: Cue, Craving, Response, Reward

Chris Labs

Cue The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward. Our prehistoric ancestors were paying attention to cues that signaled the location of primary rewards like food, water, and sex. Today, we spend most of our time learning cues that predict secondary rewards like money and fame, power and status, praise and approval, love and friendship, or a sense of personal satisfaction. Craving They are the motivational force behind every habit/ What you crave is not the habit itself but the change in state it delivers. Ex: You are not … Continue reading The breakdown of a habit: Cue, Craving, Response, Reward

Habits

True behavior change is identity change

Chris Labs

You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity. The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader. The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner. The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a musician. -Atomic Habits, p.34 Continue reading True behavior change is identity change

Habits

The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it.

Chris Labs

Ex: If you’re proud of how your hair looks, you’ll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it. If you’re proud of the size of your biceps, you’ll make sure you never skip an upper-body workout. -Atomic Habits, p.33 Continue reading The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it.

Habits

Forget about setting goals, focus on your systems instead

Chris Labs

In the words of three-time Super Bowl winner Bill Wash, “The score takes care of itself”. On a day-to-day basis, stop monitoring the score constantly (sales, followers, etc.)… Focus on building a better system and the score will follow. A handful of problems arise when you spend too much time thinking about your goals and not enough time designing your systems. Problem #1: Winners and losers have the same goals. Problem #2: Achieving a goal is only a momentary change. Achieving a goal only changes your life for the moment. That’s the counterintuitive thing about improvement. We think we need … Continue reading Forget about setting goals, focus on your systems instead