How To Create A Good Habit

“A habit is a routine behaviour that is performed regularly – and in most cases, automatically” – James Clear

We all have habits that benefit us.

Brushing our teeth maintains oral health and long term savings on dental work. Saving money allows us to splurge on a holiday or buy something we otherwise would’t be able to afford. Going to the gym after work every day keeps us in good health mentally and physically.

We also have bad habits that can be detrimental to us.

We binge chocolate at night keeping us overweight and unhappy in our appearance. We routinely snooze our alarms for 30 minutes each morning resulting in being late for work or skipping breakfast. Checking Facebook results in 45 minutes of scrolling mindlessly.

How do those good habits BECOME good habits. Why do we do them. What makes them habits??

There are 4 reasons a habit become habitual, automated or second nature. All four are the reason WHY a habit is a habit and you can also use them to your advantage to CREATE better habits.

1. IT IS OBVIOUS

Brushing your teeth before bed is a habit many of us have. Hopefully our parents fostered this habit in us as children but why do we keep it as we grow? It helps that the toothbrush and toothpaste sit on the bathroom counter. And, for the most part, this is the last room we visit before going to bed. It’s right in front of us. Impossible to miss.

Now imagine if your toothbrush was at the kitchen sink. Would you use the toilet and return to the kitchen to brush your teeth? Would you remember to do it before you went upstairs? Probably not. At least not enough to ensure you did it every night.

Same goes for hitting the gym. The gym on the other side of town may be the one you want to use but the gym beside your workplace, even if not your first choice, offers a much better chance of you attending. No traffic worries or time consuming commute. It’s obvious too, being so close by.

2. IT IS ATTRACTIVE

Most big brands don’t advertise a product. They advertise a feeling.

These are just 2 examples of adverts that prey on our emotions. McDonalds will make you feel happy. Coke will make you happy. Even clothes brands sell confidence or a lifestyle instead of the actual clothing.

So how can you “design” attractiveness?

You can link something you want to do with an action you need to do.

A simple example is that I want to walk more and I need to listen to more podcasts. Headphones in and away I go. I need to wash the dishes but I want to catch up on Homeland Series 5 so I put hooks for my phone over the sink and I can watch an episode as I wash the dishes.

You can design your own “habit bundles” by working out what you need to do and pairing it with something you want to do.

3. IT IS EASY

Want to drink more water? Have a bottle beside your PC or in close proximity to wherever you spend most of your day.

You need to make doing the right thing as easy as possible. If you want to eat more fruit and vegetables have them pride of place in the kitchen. If they are hidden away it is very easy to forget them. Out of sight, out of mind rings very true!

If you want to exercise more it helps to have a dedicated area at home to do it. If you have to reaarrange the living room beforehand you simply have a barrier that can lead to not bothering at all because of the work involved to even start!

If you want to save €20 per week set up a standing order into a seperate account direct from your payslip or bank account. If you don’t have it, you don’t miss it. It’s automated and easy! Don’t rely on doing it manually each week.

4. IS IT SATISFYING

Exercise isn’t satisfying immediately. It can be a struggle. You feel great afterwards though. Is knowing you’ll feel great after an hour of hard work enough to get you out of the house on a rainy, cold November evening?

What is rewarded is repeated.

Think about sex without an orgasm. You probably wouldn’t want to do it over and over. Think about the cinema without the popcorn. It’s just not the same! The satisfaction of exercise may be that you workout in a gym or with people you relate to, have fun with and enjoy their company.

You need a habit to stick and for it to stick there has to be some sort of reward or satisfaction in it’s immediate execution or aftermath. Otherwise, you won’t repeat it for long enought to see any benefit.

Unfortuntately, many good habits have delayed satisfaction. Exercise may help improve your body but it will take time. Saving for a holiday is not immediately exhilerating but the trip will be….in 8 months. Bad habits tend to have immediate satisfaction. Eating the chocolate – yum! Staying an extra 20 minutes in bed – so good!

You need to feel successful, even if only a small way, to make a new habit satisfying enough to be repeated. Perhaps it’s being accountable to a coach. It could be a monthly chart with 30 X’s on it that provide the daily incentive. It may even be posting your success on social media and being told “well done” by friends and family.

However you find your satisfaction, know that your likelihood of repeating the habit continuing depends on it.

No matter what habit you want to create you need to:

1. Make it obvious
2. Make is attractive
3. Make it easy
4. Make it satisfying

The first 3 will ensure the habit is perford THIS time. The fourth will ensure it is also performed NEXT time.

Only then do you have the makings of a habit.

Mark

PS – This blog was inspired by a book I read called Atomic Habits by James Clear. Want a better understanding of habits? Buy it, read it and read it again.