How to become 37.78 times better at anything | Atomic Habits summary (by James Clear) (3)
been using this book to build systems around my habits the past few months.
After you read the book maybe your approach will be different than mine or better, or maybe there
are some parts I completely missed or could improve upon so do let me know in the comments.
The Good habits I wanted to develop were more consistent workout and reading routines.
The Bad habit I wanted to eliminate was becoming distracted and overconsuming social media
First I completed the Habit scorecard. This gave me a good idea of habits I could try to eliminate,
but more importantly it gave me an idea of daily habits I was
already doing that I could stack my new habits with.
Ultimately, when you find the habits you want to work on. you want to be pushing
Desired good habits towards this side of the spectrum, and bad habits towards this side.
For the working out habit.
The first step was to make the cues more obvious, and I had a few tools I could use from the book.
In this case I used what James Clear calls the implementation strategy.
I will workout at 6am in the living room.
Next I tried as best I could to design my environment conducive to this new habit.
I took my dumbbell set out of the closet, and put them in the living room.
I also found a few pictures of healthy physiques on the internet
and put them in places around the house as cues that would remind me of the habit.
Next, I moved on to the craving phase.
To increase dopamine and motivation I bundle the workout with listening to
some of my favorite podcasts. I also implement reprogramming my brain. I tell myself repeatedly
I don't “have to do a workout” but that “ I get to build strength and a healthier body”
That subtle shift in mindset has gone a long way.
Ideally, joining a gym, or finding a group to workout with would be even better
to strengthen this habit, but unfortunately all gyms
are closed where I live, so I'm kind of on my own for now with these two tools.
Next, making it easy.
Using the 2 minute rule, to make sure I don't end up like most people
starting a new habit, that try to do too much too soon.
I want my habit to not feel like a challenge at all. My 2 minute rule was putting on my
workout clothes and stretching. If that was the only thing I accomplished then that was fine,
because I showed up. But you will quickly find that once you are there, you are now motivated to
get the workout done. It is weird but the motivation seems to come after you get started.
My mindset is focused on small 1 percent changes compounding into meaningful results
AND that my systems will get me to the results, not vague goals. Remembering that my main focus
at this point is just making sure I show up and start anchoring this habit in place.
Once you are consistently showing up, increase the progression.
To decrease friction, I made the rule that I'm not allowed to check my phone
until the workout was complete. If I get distracted by emails or social media,
It is one excuse and one step of friction between myself and the workout getting completed.
Lastly, this was a game changer for me, priming the environment. When I place my shoes,
yoga mat and dumbbells out the night before I skyrocket my show up and workout percentage.
As soon as I place these items out the night before,
I feel like the ritual has begun and the workout is already complete because I have zero excuses.
So with those 3 phases of the loop systemized to get me to show up.
I only had the last phase of the loop left to tackle. To make sure I keep repeating the habit.
I use both of these tools somewhat together to close out the loop.
I use a habit tracker, crossing the day off the calendar becomes the reward
and it forces me to not want to break the chain. I also take a of picture of
the calories I burnt and send the picture to my partner, and that feels satisfying.
Mindset wise, I begin with identity and I remind myself after each workout that “I
want to become the kind of person that enjoys fitness and doesn't miss workouts” I don't
put all my focus on outcomes such as I want to be 10kg lighter by such and such a date.
I also remind myself that I need to be patient for results and that I'm
probably still somewhere in this Valley of disappointment before I will see results!
So that is my personal system for morning workouts.
I went through the same process with the reading habit, with a few minor changes.
I used the habit stack. After [making a coffee] I will [read for 90 minutes]
… making a coffee was my trigger cue for reading.
My one space one use rule was reading on the balcony of my apartment.
One of the best parts of my day is a nice cup of coffee in the
morning. So this was the perfect thing to bundle the habit with.
Remembering how dopamine raises in anticipation of a reward and not the reward itself. I wanted
this dopamine spike for wanting coffee to start becoming associated with reading.
My 2 minute rule was to read 1 page of The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. Super simple,
again in the beginning all I was concerned with was showing up and getting this habit
anchored. Then I slowly built up the habit to around 90 minutes.
For the bad habit I was trying to eliminate
To make the habit invisible, I started by making my phone as boring as possible,
which required deleting a lot of apps.
I use the reprogramming tool, to highlight the unattractive side of
overconsuming social media. Telling myself things like… … consuming is the easy and
lazy option of the masses ,producing things is difficult but rewarding. Do I
want to be a consumer or a producer? Random scrolling through feeds is for losers. So
try to paint your bad habit in a light that makes it super unattractive to keep doing.
To increase friction, I left my phone out of sight whilst working in a drawer in another room.
To make it unsatisfying, I have an accountability partner, I get my partner to enforce this
habit. The punishment is If she sees me using social media during work time, I owe her $10.
So that is how I have been using this fantastic book guys with great results
so far, and I hope this summary has helped you to better understand the concepts within this book.
Go out and grab a copy of this book if you haven't already, you are going to take in the
knowledge at a much deeper level, from all the stories and examples that James Clear goes over
some advanced techniques, not in this summary that will help you strengthen your habits.
Thankyou for watching. See you in the next video.