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Approaching New Habits Should Be EASY!
James Clear, the author of the New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, gives a detailed formula on how to set new, long-lasting habits. If you haven't had a chance to read his book, we highly recommend it!We are going to do our best to break down his process and share it with you!His first point is to "start with an incredibly small habit." Like the note above says, start with something that you can't say no to.We like to set our sights too far ahead at times. When we do this, it leaves room for us to make excuses and that is ok. We have to remember that trying to start out of the gate at full speed requires a lot of willpower and while that works for some people, it usually turns into a very short race. Willpower is a learned mindset and Clear refers to it as being "like a muscle." It needs to be worked and sometimes gets fatigued. Maintaining motivation through willpower is like riding a roller coaster. It goes up and comes down. There's no way around that. How do we combat that?We approach this problem by setting ourselves up for success at the start. We do that by keeping the goal really small and simple. We choose a goal or habit that we "can't say no to." This could be something like this: Instead of waking up and saying "I'm going to get up early and do yoga for 30 minutes per day", wake up and try to stretch for 2-5 minutes. Think of it like trying to eat a big sandwich. You don't put the whole thing in your mouth all at once. You take small bites until you're finished. Approaching new habits and goals this way allows us to create a mindset that can be successful. Success comes from practicing this form of mindfulness every single day. This helps us stick to the plan, start new long-lasting habits, and ultimately reach our goals.So, when trying to start new habits, remember to keep them small. Set yourself up for success and look at each small picture that leads to the big one. No amazing Lego exhibit was built with one Lego.
