Learning to manage your habits to achieve a better life (EP003)– 30 days challenge to creating new habits

10 Hacks I learnt from atomic habits that changed my life – and are going to change your life too.

 

Habits – What are they?

According to James Clear author of “atomic habits”; Habits are behaviors repeated enough times to become automatic. Habits are small decisions you make and actions you perform every day.

 

 

If you critically look around; you will realize that everything, we do every day is habitual. Everything we think, say and do is a result of deep-seated habits etched into our minds through years and years of repeated behavior.

Earlier this year, I read atomic habits. It was a very interesting book and I would recommend it for anyone who would wish to build good and drop bad habits and change or develop new ones. It clearly spells out how we can improve ourselves by one percent every day, start a new habit, change who we are and what we do.

 

Here are some of my key takeaways;

 

1. 1% Better Everyday

It so amazing how improving daily by one percent yields great results in becoming a better person. Let us do some math.

• 1% worse every day for one year: 0.99³⁶⁵ = 00.03
• 1% better every day for one year. 1.01³⁶⁵ = 37.78

This means that getting worse by 1% every day makes you decline nearly to zero in a year and improving by 1% every day makes you better 37 times in a year. This year, I have managed to save a certain percentage of my income every month which wasn’t possible in the previous years and I believe you can do so too.

Let’s say you are working for a private company and earn UGX 1,000,000 as your monthly gross income. If you subtract PAYEE and 5% NSSF; your take home will be UGX 748,000. Now if you save 10% of your net pay; it will equate to UGX 74,800. Saving this for 12 months; you will be having UGX 897,600 in year. This money looks small but if you don’t keep it away you will end up with zero at the end of the year.

 

2. Creating a Habits Scorecard

I was stack doing the same things every day but I had never stopped to ask myself whether what I was doing was right or not until I discovered the habit scorecard. Many of us are often challenged in forming habits because we lack self-awareness of what we do every day.

You can’t create or change habits you aren’t aware of. So, let’s do some work now and get aware of our daily habits. Get your note book or journal and create a habit-scorecard. All you need to do is to make a list of all your daily habits and give each a score. Once you have a full list, look at each behavior, and ask yourself, “Is this a good habit, a bad habit, or a neutral habit?” If it is a good habit, write “+” next to it. If it is a bad habit, write “–”. If it is a neutral habit, write “=”. Scoring will depend on the goals you set.

3. Implementation Intention Formula

This is a strategy I started using to pair a new habit with a specific time and location. The formula is; “I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]”. For example, some of my behaviors in relation to this formula are;

• Bible Study: I will study the bible for 10 minutes at 05:25 am from my prayer alter in my room.
• Prayer: I will communicate with God for 10 minutes at 05:35 am from my prayer alter in my room.
• Reading: I will read for 30 minutes at 5:55 am in the morning from my table in my room.
• Exercise: I will exercise for 30 minutes at 04:30pm in my workplace back yard.
• Finances: I will record my days expenses and receivables for 5 minutes at 07:30 pm in my spreadsheet at home.

Implementation intentions are effective for sticking to our goals reason being that we make ourselves aware of the time/date and location from which we will fulfill our daily habits.

 

4. Habit Stacking

Building a new habit becomes easy if you get a current habit, you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. The habit stacking formula is: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].” Below are examples of some of my new behaviors stacked with my old habits.

• Meditation: After showering and dressing in my night dress, I will mediate for 2 minutes.
• Health: After I wake up, I will drink a glass of water.
• Gratitude: After I close my computer at the workplace in the evening, I will write 3 things I am grateful for.
• Personal growth: After I reach my workplace, I will share with my workmates on what up what I listened to/learnt on my way to the work place.

You can also just fix a new habit in your current routine. For example; let us say your current routine is; wake up > prayer >shower > dress up > leave for work and you want to fix in some 3 new habits like journaling, exercise and breakfast.

Your new routine could become; wake up> exercise> prayer > journaling > dress up > breakfast > leave for work.

 

5. Habits tracking

A habit-tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit or not. It provides you with evidence that you completed your habit and making progress or not. The most basic format is to get a calendar and cross off each habit you do every day but this may not be effective if you have several habits to track. You can instead use a habit journal or a spread sheet of your choice.

You can choose to do both habit stacking and tracking at the same time with a formula being: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [TRACK MY HABIT]. For example;

• After I finish each set at the workout, I will record it in my workout log.
• After I put my plate in the dishwasher, I will write down what I ate.
• After I take water, I will record the number of glasses taken.

6. The 2-minute rule

I used to procrastinate but this book opened my eyes that I could actually beat procrastination by doing something for at least 2 minutes. Most of the habits I am developing, I apply this rule especially when I feel like giving up.

The rule states that for every new habit you start, take only 2 minutes to do it. It’s a simple strategy to make a new habit as easy as possible. You can do more minutes after this but if you find it hard to stick to a habit, then do it for only 2 minutes and stop. For example, if your goal is to exercise for 30 minutes, start the habit by just taking out your mat or putting on your clothes, if want to consider reading; start with one page and if you want to do journaling, start with one sentence. By doing this over time you will start to notice that you will start to beat procrastination and find yourself easily practicing your new habits.

 

7. Commitment Device

A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that controls your action in the future. For example, if you find trouble going to bed at the time you specify, set your phone to automatically switch its self-off so that you know its time to sleep.  Maybe you want to start a new business and want to take time to think but you can’t control yourself watching TV; take it outside the house and bring it after the you accomplish your business plan. Maybe you have trouble for going coffee when you are trying to lose weight; decide to leave your wallet at home so as to reduce the chances of taking it. The essence of doing all this is to make a bad habit as hard as possible.

 

8. Environment

It is easier to change your behavior when your environment changes. Environments are your physical surroundings and our habits are influenced by the surroundings. Often times we imitate habits of 3 social groups. where we practice them or the people, we surround ourselves with. These being the close (family, peers, coworkers), the many (your tribe) and the powerful (those with status and prestige – coaches, mentors). Take note of the people you surround yourself with because most likely you become what they are.

You can also make a change/find a more favorable environment to perform your habit if the current one isn’t working. For example; if you have a habit of praying from your bed but actually notice that you instead find yourself dozing; change the environment and pray from the siting room. If you can’t think of new ideas or write at home; find a quiet natural space, sit in the tree and write down your thoughts.

 

9. Habits Contract

If you want to add immediate cost to a bad habit then create a habit contract. Just as governments use laws to hold citizens accountable, you can create a habit contract to hold yourself accountable.

A habit contract is a verbal or written agreement in which you state your commitment to a particular habit and the punishment that will occur if you don’t follow through. Then you find one or two people to act as your accountability partners and sign off on the contract with you. Signing a contract looks formal and unnecessary but it indicates seriousness. You can choose any planner of your choice with the help of 101planners.com.

 

 

10. Reflection and Review

Having tracked your habits, it is good that you do a review to measure your progress. You can do an annual review each December and reflect on how the year has ended. Tally up the habits for the year by say; counting the articles you published, books you read, number of workouts you put in, places you visited, time you prayed and read the bible etc. Then reflect on your progress by answering these three questions.

1. What went well this year?
2. What didn’t go so well this year?
3. What did I learn?

Along the way in the middle of the journey; after six months come up with an integrity report to help you notice where you made mistakes/went wrong and then go back on the track. Use this time to revisit you’re your values and consider whether you have been living in accordance with them. Reflect on your identity and how you can work towards becoming the best person you wish to become.

 

Conclusion

As we are excited to start a new month; I found it worth sharing this with you so that you could engage in a 30-day challenge of changing your habits. Pick up the atomic habits book and read for maximum benefit. I assure you that it’s going to improve your life beyond imagination. Just in case you aren’t interested in reading; pick this as the first habit. Read one page a day and persist until it become automatic for you to do so. After reading, don’t end there; deliberately practice some more new habits and you will end up discovering some mysteries.

Some days are going to be had and you would feel like giving up but I encourage you to make the habit as easy as possible by applying the 2-minute rule. Ensure that you never miss twice by applying the never miss twice principle. Have a will power, commitment and disciple to continue even when things fail to workout. William S. Burroughs is credited with the quote, “When you stop growing you start dying.” Do not allow this; challenge your self this coming month into changing your habits.