Try a sequence of habits - After I brush my teeth, I'll drink a glass of warm water. Daily. Or, after I send a mail that I'm supposed to send daily, I'll go for a brief walk. Combining habits with tasks you are bound to do, will also ensure the completion of the habit.

Try combining habits

Self control is a short term strategy. We must, rather, change the temptation associated with the habit.

<ol><li>Five minute rule: If something takes five minutes or less, do it right away, instead of scheduling it for later.</li><li>Don't break the chain: Mark a cross for each day you complete a habit. As you make progress, you'll see a chain of such crosses forming. Your goal should be to not break the chain.</li><li>Never skip a habit twice: It might still be possible that due to externalities, you might miss doing something one day. Just don't skip it twice.</li></ol>

Small hacks

Waiting for motivation before action is futile. Action creates motivation.

The best is the enemy of the good.

Habits are initiated by cues, and a visual cue is the most obvious of all. Habits are, hence, linked to the environment. Keep your running shoes in front of you. Keep your books on the table.

First Law: Make the cues obvious

Humans follow the law of least effort. Start small, with an easy task, with repetition, and not perfection.10 minutes of reading daily is better than an hour of reading once a week. And make sure to keep the book visibly in front of you.

Third Law: Make it Easy

Being 1% better each day would help you become 37x better in a year. It's these small habits, and doing them consistently over time, that make huge changes.  As Einstein claimed, compounding is indeed the eighth wonder of the world!

Just 1% better, every day

We need to make our habits irresistible since it is the expectation of the rewarding experience that makes us act. In addition to the dopamine hit, if a behaviour can get us approval, respect or praise, we tend to repeat it.Set small rewards for yourself, for eg. playing a mobile game after studying for an hour.

Second Law: Make it Attractive

What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. While incentives can start a habit, identity sustains it.Instead of affirming that I need to exercise daily to be healthy, one must affirm that they are healthy, and hence, they exercise daily.

Fourth Law: Make it Satisfying

It's 1st January 2023, and my friends made their ambitious new year resolutions. However, research shows that almost 80% people abandon their resolutions by February. It's not these huge, ambitious goals, but the compounding of small systems that work towards changing you. Atomic Habits is one of the most lucid and practical books that helps you create systems to transform yourself.

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 4 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy); overcome a lack of motivation and willpower; design your environment to make success easier; get back on track when you fall off course; ...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

productivity

Productivity

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

books

Books

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 10 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: <ul><li>make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);</li></ul><ul><li>overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;</li></ul><ul><li>design your environment to make success easier;</li></ul><ul><li>get back on track when you fall off course;</li></ul>...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

James Clear is the author of "Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones" He writes about habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement at jamesclear.com. His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter.His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Learn more at jamesclear.com

JAMES CLEAR

Similar ideas to JAMES CLEAR

Brute willpower doesn't work

What willpower is

Why we fall for temptation