Forming Better Habits 🙌
Lately I’ve been obsessed with the concept of habits. There are two books I’ve particularly enjoyed on this topic - The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Atomic Habits by James Clear. I re-read Atomic Habits during this lockdown in an attempt to fix a few horrible habits that have somehow snuck into my daily routine (like binge watching Netflix and my terrible sleep pattern).
One thing both books talk about is the idea of Keystone Habits - small choices that lead to a cascade of other actions. Keystone habits don’t create a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but they can spark chain reactions that help other good habits take hold, and thus, have the ability to impact your whole life.
For example, James Clear writes that when he and his wife get home from work, they either
a) immediately change into their gym clothes, or
b) sit on the sofa
Their entire evening changes based on this one simple decision.
If they change into their gym clothes, they inevitably end up going to the gym and then cook something healthy for dinner. If they sit on the sofa instead, they inevitably end up watching Netflix and ordering takeaway. The healthier habit here just requires taking one small decision (gym clothes vs sofa) and the rest just takes care of itself.
Exercising seems to be an obvious one, but I’ve noticed a few other keystone habits in my life, and I’m working on identifying more. One of them is as simple as brushing my teeth at night by 11. As soon as I brush my teeth, the rest of my night routine just automatically follows - I do my skincare, and get in bed reading my Kindle until I fall asleep (which usually doesn’t take too long). On days I don’t do this, I just end up watching YouTube videos, scrolling on Instagram or just killing time in many other ways until it’s 3AM and I realise how late it is and go down a guilt trip.
Another example - whether or not I mediate in the morning has such a big impact on how the rest of my day goes. On days I do meditate, even if it’s just for 5 minutes, I’m in a positive mindset throughout the day and feel much calmer and am better able to handle all the highs and lows of my day. However, when I don’t meditate, even the smallest challenges I come across throw me off and put me in a bad mood.
Often times, adopting a new habit is easier than it seems. Like with James’s example, working out and eating healthy seem like such huge habits to incorporate into your life but if you think about it, it’s as simple as changing into your workout clothes and everything else just falls into place.