Habits
When in doubt do
Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.
A small habit - when repeated consistently - grows into something significant.
Knowledge does not change behavior
Albert Gray, a life insurance executive at Prudential, discussing the importance of habits in the 1940s:
"Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit. People form habits and habits form futures. If you do not deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you will form bad ones. You are the kind of person you are because you have formed the habit of being that kind of person, and the only way you can change is through habit."
"Your current habits are perfectly designed to deliver your current results."
Whenever there is a gap between your habits and your goals, your habits will always win
The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It's the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows.
The problem is not slipping up; the problem is thinking that if you cannot do something perfectly, then you shouldn't do it at all...
"3 things that help habits stick:
- Repetition. Habits form based on frequency, not time.
- Stable context. If the context is always changing, so is the behavior. You need a reliable environment.
- Positive emotions. If it feels good, you'll want to repeat it."
Be "selectively ignorant."
Ignore topics that drain your attention.
Unfollow people that drain your energy.
Abandon projects that drain your time.
Do not keep up with it all. The more selectively ignorant you become, the more broadly knowledgable you can be.
The trajectory of your life bends in the direction of your habits.
Success is the result of simple, productive actions repeated consistently over time.
When you do things habitually, it seems easier, but without conscious action, there shall be No growth.
"Greatness is consistency.
Meditating once is common. Meditating daily is rare.
Exercising today is simple. Training every week is simply remarkable.
Writing one essay rarely matters. Write every day and you're practically a hero.
Unheroic days can make for heroic decades."
Does the amount of attention I'm giving this match its importance?
The price of discipline is always less than the cost of regret.
The most reliable way to change your life is by not changing your entire life.
If you try to change everything all at once, you will quickly find yourself pulled back into the same patterns as before. But if you merely focus on changing one specific habit and work on it until it becomes part of your normal day, you will find your life changes naturally as a side effect.
Improve the whole by mastering one thing.
Your mind is a suggestion engine. Every thought you have is a suggestion, not an order.
Sometimes your mind suggests that you are tired, that you should give up, or that you should take an easier path.
But if you pause, you can discover new suggestions. For example, that you will feel good once the work is done or that you have the ability to finish things even when you don't feel like it.
Your thoughts are not orders. Merely suggestions. You have the power to choose which option to follow.
"A quick and easy tip for building habits that last:
Pick a standard time and place to do it.
It's easier to wake up knowing "I exercise at 4pm" than to decide each time when to fit a habit into your day.
If it's already decided, all you need to do is show up."
Awareness is often enough to motivate change.
Simply tracking your food intake will motivate you to alter it. Merely writing down your problems may spark ideas for possible solutions.
The process starts with seeing reality clearly.
How long does it take to build a habit? 21 days? 30 days? 66 days? The honest answer is: forever. Because once you stop doing it, it is no longer a habit. A habit is a lifestyle to be lived, not a finish line to be crossed. Make small, sustainable changes you can stick with.
Make it so easy you can't say no - Leo Babauta
The key - if you want to build habits that last - is to join a group where the desired behavior is the normal behavior.