Day One - Habits
Bridging the wellbeing gap - Understanding the power of small habits
“It does not matter how successful you are right now…what matters is whether your habits are putting you on a path towards success”
— Atomic Habits - James Clear, 2018
Did you know that if you were to improve by 1% every day for a year, then you would be up to thirty-seven times better after 12 months?
That is the compound interest of small intentional daily steps.
For many of us, there is a gap between where we are now and where we want to be, and I am sure you have tried to make the change but have been unsuccessful in establishing this in the longer term. This may be because transformative change is not linear, and we quit because of a failure to see tangible results even though its likely that micro-changes are happening out of sight.
Each day we are forming good and bad habits, so let's make them work for, not against you. Instead of relying on luck, we can focus on the factors that are within our control: our thoughts, actions, and feelings. Thriving wellbeing comes from the small things we do every day, and we can use habits to help us achieve our goals. It's interesting to consider that up to 40% of our daily actions are habits and involve little or no conscious thought, i.e., we are on auto-pilot 40% of the time.
Three habits change ideas for you to consider:
Change your identity
"to be the best version of yourself requires you to edit your beliefs continuously and to upgrade and expand your identity. Every action then becomes a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity" 1
Don't over-optimize and make it tiny.
All change starts with a first step. Starting small is a successful formula for change, literally choose something you can do in two minutes or less. As an example, if you want to be a better reader, then read one page daily.
Make it obvious.
If you want to make something a big part of your life, then make a big part of your environment. For example, if you want to eat more healthily, then stock the pantry and fridge with healthy food.
Track your progress.
The best form of motivation is progress. Write down a small daily action and track this for a while (week, month, or year). It's a simple but satisfying way to see progress towards your new identity.
Today's challenge is to ask yourself: Who do I want to be? A new identity requires new evidence, so what type of person do you want to be, and what are the small wins to prove this?
References – 1. Atomic Habits – An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones - James Clear – 2018
Resources
Read. Tiny habits. B J Fogg tinyhabits or Atomic Habits James Clear atomic-habits
Listen. Finding mastery podcast
Deep dive. James Clear james clear website
** Disclaimer – Part of the Build Your Ideal Day Program – 30 Day challenge by Duncan Young. All content and media on the Build Your Ideal Day Website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.
