The Power of Habit Building

So, what actually is a habit? 

In a nutshell, habits are routines that are carried out regularly.

And what this means is that they make up everything that we do – so, the habits we develop can have a real impact on the quality of our lives. 

If you therefore think carefully about the regular actions that you’re undertaking, and get intentional about them, you will begin to see clear and noticeable changes in your life.

Developing new habits may seem like a daunting task; particularly if your existing ones have become embedded over many years. A perfect place to start is to identify some small daily changes that you could make that will then bring you that little bit closer to where you want to be. And if you ensure they’re manageable, and you’re consistent with them, you can achieve some amazing results.

As James Clear states in his book, “Atomic Habits”:

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement; the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them…[on the other hand] when we repeat 1 percent errors, day after day, by replicating poor decisions, duplicating tiny mistakes, and rationalizing little excuses, our small choices compound into toxic results.”

When it comes to looking at how to develop healthy habits, there’s a lot that can be learnt and applied from James Clear’s book.

Here are some things that I’ve picked up from this book:

Get intentional – make choices based on who you are and where you want to be.

We can often place a lot of emphasis on the results that we want to achieve. And with this information, we may then determine the habits we think we need to develop to help our dreams become a reality.

But it can actually be helpful to look at things a little bit differently…

Instead of concentrating on what you want to achieve, it’s useful to think about the small actions that you can carry out each day that will support who you want to be.

Consider what you could do that will help you to learn and grow as a person. 

What small actions could you undertake to help you to reach your full potential?

Taking this approach can make it easier to establish small positive habits and carry them out consistently, resulting in you living a true and authentic life.

Have trust in the process

The habits that you develop can effectively transform your life, but this won’t happen overnight. It’s therefore important to be patient. It all takes time and it’s useful to have trust in the process. You may not see results as quickly as you’d like but don’t get disheartened by that. 

Clear describes ‘the valley of disappointment’, acknowledging that it can be difficult to stay motivated with your habits if they don’t seem to be having the desired effect.

The key message here though is to be persistent – carry out your habits for long enough and you will see results in time. And when you have this trust, you’ll actually be less worried about achieving that ultimate goal anyway – as you’ll just be enjoying the process.

Assess your current habits to help identify new ones

When you’re thinking about building better habits, a great starting point is to take a good look at your current ones. Which ones are serving you well? Does a particular habit fit with who you are and where you want to be? Perhaps you’ve recognised that you have some negative habits. Can you see what might be triggering them? This can help to deal with them.

It’s all about being aware that the small actions that you carry out each day are making all the difference to your life – so identify those that you want to keep, and those that you may wish to develop.

How to develop positive habits

Once you’ve identified the habits you’d like to develop, there’s techniques you can use to help you on your way. 

Clear talks about ‘habit cues’ – ways in which a habit can be triggered.

Let’s take a look some of those:

Habit Cue: Time

Time can be a great way of triggering a habit. Committing to carry out a certain activity at a particular time of day can help to ensure you’re carrying it out regularly and consistently. 

As an example, you may have certain habits that you’re going to commit to do each morning. You might decide to do some stretching whilst the kettle is boiling. You could then enjoy reading a chapter of a book whilst sipping your morning coffee.

Another great way of using time as a cue is to establish the days of the week that you may carry out a certain activity. It’s all about scheduling in your habits – this will help you keep on track with them. 

Habit Cue: Preceding Event

Many habits can be a response to something else that happens in your life. For example, each morning, you might switch off your alarm and then check your emails or turn on the TV – habits can be very quickly formed in this way. 

Clear refers to ‘habit stacking’ as a great technique to use to schedule in regular activities. Each morning, you might drink a glass of water, make a cup of tea, spend 10 minutes reading a book and then meditate for 5 minutes to calm your mind before starting your working day. When scheduling activities into your day like this, keeping them small and manageable, you’ll see how quickly and easily they can become embedded into your daily routine.

Habit Cue: Emotional State

Clear describes your emotional state as being a common cue for the more negative habits. Have you ever felt bored and gone to make yourself a snack, even though you’re not really hungry? Or do you sometimes find yourself reaching for a bar of chocolate to try and boost your mood? As emotions can quickly trigger an unhealthy habit, it’s all about being in touch with how you’re feeling. If you’ve had a tough day at work, why not head out for a walk to blow away the cobwebs – a great way of doing something small that can then alter your emotional state, and avoid a bad habit being triggered. 

What small habits do you think would be great to introduce into your life? 

Remember, keep them small and achievable. 

And be consistent with them…you’ll start to see results as the small changes compound over time. 

And perhaps most importantly, just enjoy the process of it all. 

When you’re running a business, it can be helpful to think about how you might incorporate positive habits into your professional life, as they can really help to drive your business forward. CRM Engine is an invaluable business tool that can support you to develop good habits in a professional setting, e.g., by helping you to schedule your workload effectively. To find out more about this, please just get in touch / schedule a call.

And to learn more about how to develop positive habits, check out:

Clear, J., 2018. Atomic Habits. Random House Business Books.

Author : Mary Mason
Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash