Hi guys welcome to episode 59 of the Wildly Successful podcast and also welcome to Wednesday Wisdom! Today I am shaking things up a bit…I really really really was hoping for this o be an interview with James Clear, the author of the fabulous “Atomic Habits” book…but he had other things going and couldn’t make the interview (aka I reached out to him on several different arenas and never heard back). Haha. Anyway, he sent his book as a replacement so I will be interviewing the actual book instead…but in all seriousness sometimes you aren’t going to get the big interview but that doesn’t have to stop us, we just work around it. I am a big reader and I also happen to be kind of a speed reader, I think I have read so many books it just sort of makes it where you get good at that…So I am going to break 5 of the biggest takeaways for me and talk briefly on how I have literally been using each one of them in my life. I’m hoping you will benefit in case you are not a big reader, which not everyone is!
Ok so Number one: Goals are great. They are wonderful but they aren’t the main thing that makes you successful…it’s the processes you put in place to reach that goal, that’s where the money’s at. James says to think about it this way…Winners and Losers all have the same goals…(to win right?) But it’s the system they put in place that makes them succeed or not… Focus on the systems and you are more likely to succeed. So what does that mean in plain English? So for me, I have this goal of reaching 18% body fat. I’m not there yet. But I have become KIND of addicted to the system I’ve put in place of getting there which means making it VERY easy to get to the gym, having my clothes clean and ready, knowing exactly what my workout will be and making sure every day I have it planned out what time I’m going working out. I also know what I’m going to eat each day for breakfast and what I can eat at different restaurants that will support my eating plan, because we like to eat out. So putting that system into place is crucial to long term success, not just reaching a goal and then quitting or not reaching it and feeling like a failure. The system I have in place keeps me on track long term.
Second, the best way to start a new habit is to have an implementation intention or in laymen’s terms…set a very specific time and place for the when and where the new habit will happen. I already do this for my workouts so I have that down, but another form of implementation intention he mentions is to stack a habit onto a current habit. So for instance, every morning I make oatmeal. I do this the exact same way every day so it is already a habit. So NOW when I put the pan on the stove to cook, I have added that to be the cue for me to check the laundry to see if I need to either fold something in the dryer or move clothes from the washer to the dryer. It just helps me to be consistent where I don’t forget about laundry for 2 days in the washer. I am creating a new habit of checking the laundry by stacking it on top of a current habit of setting the pan on the stove for oatmeal. It’s genius really…..
James makes it very obvious that there are 4 keys to creating a new habit: Make it obvious, Make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying.
So our environment plays a big role in our habit building whether they are bad habits or good habits. So how does this work? Well, I have a goal to drink more water in the day. Specifically to drink 130 oz of water. We keep our water in the pantry on the floor below eye level so it is not obvious, in fact I forget to drink it because I just don’t see it. I now move the water somewhere that it is easy for me to see which reminds me to drink it. Same goes for eliminating a bad habit. We sometimes keep chocolate around for a little after dinner treat…but we hide it in the back of the pantry. Often I forget about it because I don’t see it, if it’s easy to see and access I will nibble on it during the day, but because it is out of sight I don’t think about it….I guess out of sight out of mind really does work!
The 4 keys to breaking a bad habit are to make it invisible, make it unattractive, make it difficult, and make it unsatisfying.
The way I have started using this to break a bad habit, is I deleted twitter off my phone to make it invisible but it was still a little too easy just to go to twitter.com so that wasn’t good enough. I then logged out of my account on my iPhone and I honestly have no idea what my username and password is so now it’s going to be a big hassle if I want to get on twitter and that has worked really well! I made it invisible and difficult which makes it very unsatisfying to get on it which is helping me to not even think about it…Hopefully that keeps working! It worked beautifully for TikTok. I haven’t been on that app in probably 3-4 months…Self control is a short term strategy you can resist temptation once or twice but eventually you’ll probably give in which is why it is best to optimize your environment to help you avoid it all together. He gives a few good examples like if you’re continually feeling like you’re not enough, stop following social media accounts that trigger jealousy or envy, If you you’re watching too much TV, move the TV out of the bedroom. If you can’t seem to get any work done, leave your phone in another room for a few hours…
Finally! Sometimes Creating habits can lock you into an identity that works with that habit but can keep us from growing beyond the goal we set! Wildly successful people like us are hopefully constantly growing and evolving so make sure to always be aware of where you are with your current habits and adjust them accordingly as you just keep getting better and better!
OK, Atomic Habits, it’s been super fun interviewing you even though I feel I did most of the talking but every single point was made possible by you and your wonderful author James Clear! Seriously guys….this is a great book go read it and let me know how you liked having a quick summary of a really good book….I love you guys and I ll talk to you in a few days!
