let's time to build our habits

part 6 untold story which help to build your habits

5

The Best Way to Start a New Habit

IN 2001, RESEARCHERS in Great Britain began working with 248 people to build better

exercise habits over the course of two weeks. The subjects were divided into

three groups.

The first group was the control group. They were simply asked to track how

often they exercised.

The second group was the “motivation” group. They were asked not only to

track their workouts but also to read some material on the benefits of exercise.

The researchers also explained to the group how exercise could reduce the risk

of coronary heart disease and improve heart health.

Finally, there was the third group. These subjects received the same

presentation as the second group, which ensured that they had equal levels of

motivation. However, they were also asked to formulate a plan for when and

where they would exercise over the following week. Specifically, each member

of the third group completed the following sentence: “During the next week, I

will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME] in

[PLACE].”

In the first and second groups, 35 to 38 percent of people exercised at least

once per week. (Interestingly, the motivational presentation given to the second

group seemed to have no meaningful impact on behavior.) But 91 percent of the

third group exercised at least once per week—more than double the normal rate.

The sentence they filled out is what researchers refer to as an implementation

intention, which is a plan you make beforehand about when and where to act.

That is, how you intend to implement a particular habit.

The cues that can trigger a habit come in a wide range of forms—the feel of

your phone buzzing in your pocket, the smell of chocolate chip cookies, the

sound of ambulance sirens—but the two most common cues are time and

location. Implementation intentions leverage both of these cues.

Broadly speaking, the format for creating an implementation intention is:

“When situation X arises, I will perform response Y.”

Hundreds of studies have shown that implementation intentions are effective

for sticking to our goals, whether it’s writing down the exact time and date of

when you will get a flu shot or recording the time of your colonoscopy

appointment. They increase the odds that people will stick with habits like

recycling, studying, going to sleep early, and stopping smoking.

Researchers have even found that voter turnout increases when people are

forced to create implementation intentions by answering questions like: “What

route are you taking to the polling station? At what time are you planning to go?

What bus will get you there?” Other successful government programs have

prompted citizens to make a clear plan to send taxes in on time or provided

directions on when and where to pay late traffic bills.

The punch line is clear: people who make a specific plan for when and where

they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Too many

people try to change their habits without these basic details figured out. We tell

ourselves, “I’m going to eat healthier” or “I’m going to write more,” but we

never say when and where these habits are going to happen. We leave it up to

chance and hope that we will “just remember to do it” or feel motivated at the

right time. An implementation intention sweeps away foggy notions like “I want

to work out more” or “I want to be more productive” or “I should vote” and

transforms them into a concrete plan of action.

Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.

It is not always obvious when and where to take action. Some people spend their

entire lives waiting for the time to be right to make an improvement.

Once an implementation intention has been set, you don’t have to wait for

inspiration to strike. Do I write a chapter today or not? Do I meditate this

morning or at lunch? When the moment of action occurs, there is no need to

make a decision. Simply follow your predetermined plan.

The simple way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill out this

sentence:

I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].

Meditation. I will meditate for one minute at 7 a.m. in my kitchen.Studying. I will study Spanish for twenty minutes at 6 p.m. in my

bedroom.

Exercise. I will exercise for one hour at 5 p.m. in my local gym.

Marriage. I will make my partner a cup of tea at 8 a.m. in the kitchen.

If you aren’t sure when to start your habit, try the first day of the week,

month, or year. People are more likely to take action at those times because hope

is usually higher. If we have hope, we have a reason to take action. A fresh start

feels motivating.

There is another benefit to implementation intentions. Being specific about

what you want and how you will achieve it helps you say no to things that derail

progress, distract your attention, and pull you off course. We often say yes to

little requests because we are not clear enough about what we need to be doing

instead. When your dreams are vague, it’s easy to rationalize little exceptions all

day long and never get around to the specific things you need to do to succeed.

Give your habits a time and a space to live in the world. The goal is to make

the time and location so obvious that, with enough repetition, you get an urge to

do the right thing at the right time, even if you can’t say why. As the writer

Jason Zweig noted, “Obviously you’re never going to just work out without

conscious thought. But like a dog salivating at a bell, maybe you start to get

antsy around the time of day you normally work out.”

There are many ways to use implementation intentions in your life and work.

My favorite approach is one I learned from Stanford professor BJ Fogg and it is

a strategy I refer to as habit stacking.

HABIT STACKING: A SIMPLE PLAN TO OVERHAUL YOUR HABITS

The French philosopher Denis Diderot lived nearly his entire life in poverty, but

that all changed one day in 1765.

Diderot’s daughter was about to be married and he could not afford to pay for

the wedding. Despite his lack of wealth, Diderot was well known for his role as

the co-founder and writer of Encyclopédie, one of the most comprehensive

encyclopedias of the time. When Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia,

heard of Diderot’s financial troubles, her heart went out to him. She was a book

lover and greatly enjoyed his encyclopedia. She offered to buy Diderot’s

personal library for £1,000—more than $150,000 today.* Suddenly, Diderot had

money to spare. With his new wealth, he not only paid for the wedding but alsoacquired a scarlet robe for himself.

Diderot’s scarlet robe was beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that he immediately

noticed how out of place it seemed when surrounded by his more common

possessions. He wrote that there was “no more coordination, no more unity, no

more beauty” between his elegant robe and the rest of his stuff.

Diderot soon felt the urge to upgrade his possessions. He replaced his rug with

one from Damascus. He decorated his home with expensive sculptures. He

bought a mirror to place above the mantel, and a better kitchen table. He tossed

aside his old straw chair for a leather one. Like falling dominoes, one purchase

led to the next.

Diderot’s behavior is not uncommon. In fact, the tendency for one purchase to

lead to another one has a name: the Diderot Effect. The Diderot Effect states that

obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption that leads to

additional purchases.

You can spot this pattern everywhere. You buy a dress and have to get new

shoes and earrings to match. You buy a couch and suddenly question the layout

of your entire living room. You buy a toy for your child and soon find yourself

purchasing all of the accessories that go with it. It’s a chain reaction of

purchases.

Many human behaviors follow this cycle. You often decide what to do next

based on what you have just finished doing. Going to the bathroom leads to

washing and drying your hands, which reminds you that you need to put the

dirty towels in the laundry, so you add laundry detergent to the shopping list, and

so on. No behavior happens in isolation. Each action becomes a cue that triggers

the next behavior.

Why is this important?

When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of

behavior to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to

identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new

behavior on top. This is called habit stacking.

Habit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention. Rather than

pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a

current habit. This method, which was created by BJ Fogg as part of his Tiny

Habits program, can be used to design an obvious cue for nearly any habit.*

The habit stacking formula is:

“After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].”For example:

Meditation. After I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will

meditate for one minute.

Exercise. After I take off my work shoes, I will immediately change

into my workout clothes.

Gratitude. After I sit down to dinner, I will say one thing I’m grateful

for that happened today.

Marriage. After I get into bed at night, I will give my partner a kiss.

Safety. After I put on my running shoes, I will text a friend or family

member where I am running and how long it will take.

The key is to tie your desired behavior into something you already do each

day. Once you have mastered this basic structure, you can begin to create larger

stacks by chaining small habits together. This allows you to take advantage of

the natural momentum that comes from one behavior leading into the next—a

positive version of the Diderot Effect.

HABIT STACKINGYour morning routine habit stack might look like this:

1. After I pour my morning cup of coffee, I will meditate for sixty

seconds.

2. After I meditate for sixty seconds, I will write my to-do list for the

day.

3. After I write my to-do list for the day, I will immediately begin my

first task.

Or, consider this habit stack in the evening:1. After I finish eating dinner, I will put my plate directly into the

dishwasher.

2. After I put my dishes away, I will immediately wipe down the counter.

3. After I wipe down the counter, I will set out my coffee mug for

tomorrow morning.

You can also insert new behaviors into the middle of your current routines.

For example, you may already have a morning routine that looks like this: Wake

up > Make my bed > Take a shower. Let’s say you want to develop the habit of

reading more each night. You can expand your habit stack and try something

like: Wake up > Make my bed > Place a book on my pillow > Take a shower.

Now, when you climb into bed each night, a book will be sitting there waiting

for you to enjoy.

Overall, habit stacking allows you to create a set of simple rules that guide

your future behavior. It’s like you always have a game plan for which action

should come next. Once you get comfortable with this approach, you can

develop general habit stacks to guide you whenever the situation is appropriate:

Exercise. When I see a set of stairs, I will take them instead of using

the elevator.

Social skills. When I walk into a party, I will introduce myself to

someone I don’t know yet.

Finances. When I want to buy something over $100, I will wait

twenty-four hours before purchasing.

Healthy eating. When I serve myself a meal, I will always put veggies

on my plate first.

Minimalism. When I buy a new item, I will give something away.

(“One in, one out.”)

Mood. When the phone rings, I will take one deep breath and smile

before answering.

Forgetfulness. When I leave a public place, I will check the table and

chairs to make sure I don’t leave anything behind.

No matter how you use this strategy, the secret to creating a successful habit

stack is selecting the right cue to kick things off. Unlike an implementation

intention, which specifically states the time and location for a given behavior,habit stacking implicitly has the time and location built into it. When and where

you choose to insert a habit into your daily routine can make a big difference. If

you’re trying to add meditation into your morning routine but mornings are

chaotic and your kids keep running into the room, then that may be the wrong

place and time. Consider when you are most likely to be successful. Don’t ask

yourself to do a habit when you’re likely to be occupied with something else.

Your cue should also have the same frequency as your desired habit. If you

want to do a habit every day, but you stack it on top of a habit that only happens

on Mondays, that’s not a good choice.

One way to find the right trigger for your habit stack is by brainstorming a list

of your current habits. You can use your Habits Scorecard from the last chapter

as a starting point. Alternatively, you can create a list with two columns. In the

first column, write down the habits you do each day without fail.*

For example:

Get out of bed.

Take a shower.

Brush your teeth.

Get dressed.

Brew a cup of coffee.

Eat breakfast.

Take the kids to school.

Start the work day.

Eat lunch.

End the work day.

Change out of work clothes.

Sit down for dinner.

Turn off the lights.

Get into bed.

Your list can be much longer, but you get the idea. In the second column,

write down all of the things that happen to you each day without fail. For

example:

The sun rises.

You get a text message.The song you are listening to ends.

The sun sets.

Armed with these two lists, you can begin searching for the best place to layer

your new habit into your lifestyle.

Habit stacking works best when the cue is highly specific and immediately

actionable. Many people select cues that are too vague. I made this mistake

myself. When I wanted to start a push-up habit, my habit stack was “When I take

a break for lunch, I will do ten push-ups.” At first glance, this sounded

reasonable. But soon, I realized the trigger was unclear. Would I do my push-ups

before I ate lunch? After I ate lunch? Where would I do them? After a few

inconsistent days, I changed my habit stack to: “When I close my laptop for

lunch, I will do ten push-ups next to my desk.” Ambiguity gone.

Habits like “read more” or “eat better” are worthy causes, but these goals do

not provide instruction on how and when to act. Be specific and clear: After I

close the door. After I brush my teeth. After I sit down at the table. The

specificity is important. The more tightly bound your new habit is to a specific

cue, the better the odds are that you will notice when the time comes to act.

The 1st Law of Behavior Change is to make it obvious. Strategies like

implementation intentions and habit stacking are among the most practical ways

to create obvious cues for your habits and design a clear plan for when and

where to take action.Chapter Summary

The 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it obvious.

The two most common cues are time and location.

Creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a

new habit with a specific time and location.

The implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at

[TIME] in [LOCATION].

Habit stacking is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a

current habit.

The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will

[NEW HABIT].

To be continued in part 7