Habits Workshopby James Clear

This workshop is intended to be practical.

What we will talk about: ideas that help you take action and do the work.

What we will not talk about: details that make the last 10 percent of difference.

Note: Please, do not expect every idea to work for you, your situation, or your circumstances. Focus on what does work and leave the rest.

Everyone should come away from this session with at least one idea they can implement right away.

Habits Workshop Agenda1. Habits Overview (5 to 10 minutes)2. Mindset (20 to 30 minutes)3. Energy (20 to 30 minutes)4. Willpower (20 to 30 minutes)5. Habits Lightning Round (10 minutes)

BONUS: Question and Answer Session (30 minutes)

Habits OverviewWhat are habits? How do they work?

Habits (automatic) vs. Routines (scheduled)We use them interchangeably, but they aren’t quite the same.

Adapted from The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

That’s the science. Now, let’s talk about implementing this in real life.

3 Things That Hold Us Back1. Mindset (mastering your own psychology)2. Energy (getting started over and over again)3. Willpower (maintaining discipline and consistency)

I. MindsetMastering your own psychology.

Imagine someone losing 100 pounds in 12 weeks.

When you hear about a dramatic transformation (like someone losing 100 pounds) or a incredible success story (like someone building a million dollar business in 1 year), the only thing you know is the event that people are talking about.

You rarely hear about the process that came before it or the habits that lead to the eventual result.

Outcomes and events get a lot of hype.As a result, our society teaches you to focus on

outcomes, results, and achievements.

Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits.

Your audacious life goals are fabulous. We’re proud of you for having them. But it’s possible that those goals are designed to distract you from the thing that’s really frightening you—the shift in daily habits that would mean a re–invention of how you see yourself.

-Seth Godin

Every time we participate in a ritual, we are expressing our beliefs, either verbally or more implicitly.

-Tony Schwartz

So, how do we get there?How do you start new behaviors that eventually transform into new beliefs?

(And ultimately become lifelong habits and routines.)

Focus on lifestyle changes, not life-changing outcomes.

(Build tiny routines that are repeatable.)

Examples

Publishing your first book might be life–changing, emailing a new book agent each day is a new type of lifestyle.

Running a marathon might be life–changing, running 3 days per week is a new type of lifestyle.

Earning an extra $20,000 each year might be life–changing, working an extra 5 hours per week as a freelancer is a new type of lifestyle.

Squatting 100 more pounds might be life–changing, squatting 3 days per week is a new type of lifestyle.

In other words, focus on the system instead of the goal.

Do goals hinder habits?

Goals suggest that you need control, when what you actually need is consistency.

Commit to learning as you go, rather than trying to predict the future and plan it out perfectly beforehand.

When you focus on the practice instead of the performance, you can enjoy the present

moment and improve at the same time.(Meanwhile, goals reduce your current happiness.)

Goals go against consistent, long-term progress.Habits prevent the “yo-yo” effect.

There are many great outcomes, you don’t need to settle on one.

(How could you predict the best one anyway?)

Are goals useless?Answer: No, I actually think they are quite useful.

Goals help you decide what is important to you.

(Goals are great for setting your direction, not predicting the outcome.)

But once you set a direction, put your goals on the shelf and focus on the process.

You don’t need to predict the outcome! (And you can’t, even if you wanted to.)

SUMMARY: Give up outcomes, not goals.

“Every day at 8 AM…”The story of Todd Henry

Instead of putting pressure on yourself to achieve a goal by a certain time, simply use your goal to set a direction and then spend all of your time considering how you can improve the process.

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING BETTER HABITS

You have to pick a habit that is important to you.

If you don’t care about it, you’re not going to stick with it.

Start with something that is so easy, you can’t say no to it.

The “2 Minute Rule” for habits.

Do not wait for motivation. If it’s not there, it will come after starting small.

During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME OF DAY] at/in [PLACE].

Hundreds of research studies say that you should use “Implementation Intentions” to set your schedule.

More examples of implementation intentions:

1. Women who stated when and where they would perform a breast self–examination, did it 100% of the time. Meanwhile, those who didn’t state when and where only performed the exam 53% of the time.

2. Dieters who formulated a plan for when and how they would eat healthier were significantly more likely to eat healthy than those who did not.

3. People who wrote down when and where they would take their vitamins each day were less likely to miss a day over a five week span than those who did not.

Tie your new habit to a current behavior that you do each day without fail.

(Find your “trigger” or “cue”)

WORKSHOP EXERCISE

You’re going to write two lists.

In the first list, write down everything you do each day without fail.

In the second list, write down all of the things that happen to you each day.

WORKSHOP EXERCISE

THINGS YOU DOTake a shower. Brush your hair.Get dressed.Go to the bathroom.Drink your morning coffee.Drive to work. Eat lunch.Pick up the mail.Eat dinner.Go to bed.

THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO YOUTraffic light turns red.Someone sends you a text message.A co-worker walks by your desk.The sun rises.The sun sets.

During the next week, after [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].

Combining implementation intentions with everyday triggers.

Keystone HabitsFrom The Power of Habit:

Focus on the 1 habit or routine that tends to pull the rest of your life in line.

II. EnergyGetting started over and over again.

Most people think they need to manage their time, but they really need to manage their energy.

We all have the same amount of time. High performers simply use their energy better during that time.

All hours are not created equal.When do you do your best work?

STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING YOUR ENERGY

Work in cycles.

We, too, must learn to live our own lives as a series of sprints - fully engaging for periods of time, and then fully disengaging and seeking renewal before jumping back into the fray.

-Tony Schwartz

Keep an energy journal.Write down how you’re feeling each hour.

High point or low point? Creative or not? Focused or scattered?

There’s no goal here, you’re simply trying to determine how you feel and when you’re at your best.

Build recovery into your schedule.I find that this is true both for your daily energy and for habits in general.

Give your body and mind the time and space it needs to recover.

It is a very good plan every now and then to go away and have a little relaxation. When you come back to the work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose the power of judgment.

-Leonardo Da Vinci

Sprint more in life.Do a sprint, plan for recovery. Do a sprint, plan for recovery. Repeat.

Stagger energy-taking activities with energy-giving ones.

Imagine: You could work all day if you’re doing energy-giving activities.

Instant Energy BoosterBreathe in slowly for 3 seconds. Breathe out slowly for 6 seconds.

III. WillpowerMaintaining discipline and consistency.

Willpower is like a muscle.Which means, it can be depleted, restored, and strengthened.

It also means that your entire life impacts it.

Imagine you see a bear in the woods.

Stress and WillpowerThe “fight or flight” response actually prevents your ability

to do long-term planning, and thus reduces your willpower.

(Who needs to plan for next week when you have to run for your life?)

SOLUTION: Find better ways to deal with stress.

EXAMPLES

Sleep more: Under 6 hours per night will destroy your willpower. 8 hours is recommended. And, surprisingly, you can actually catch up and store up on sleep. So, if you have a weekend to sleep longer, do so.

Exercise consistently: Five minutes of vigorous exercise will make a difference. And even taking a short “workout break” to do a few push-ups or run across the parking lot can be beneficial.

Eat better: Eat plants and animals that came from the outdoors, not packaged or processed food.

STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING YOUR WILLPOWER

The best way to improve your self-control is to see how and why you lose control.

-Kelly McGonigal, author of The Willpower Instinct

Plan for failure.People with the best habits and the most willpower fail all the time.

They simply get back on track more quickly because they have a plan for doing so.

Develop a pre-game routine.Willpower increases when you reduce variability. Additionally, pre-game

routines act as an “on ramp” for kickstarting your habits.

Use the word “don’t” rather than “can’t.”More empowering self-talk can increase

your willpower and ability to resist temptation.

Tempted? Wait 5 minutes.Introduce a “wait 5 minutes” rule when you’re feeling tempted by a craving.

If you go longer than 5 minutes and still want it, then go ahead. But this rule will help counteract spur-of-the-moment urges and force you to think

about your decisions.

CHALLENGE: Meditate for 1 minuteDo this every morning and your willpower will increase.

(If you’re up for more, try doing a 10-minute guided meditation.)

Stop training your brain to chase everything that crosses your mind. Start training it to focus on the things that are important to you.

The entire goal of this exercise is to realize that your mind will wander, but you don’t have to let your actions wander with it.

Reduce the scope, but stick to the schedule.Doing something consistently builds willpower.

The beginning is the hardest part.Willpower is a self-perpetuating cycle.

If you have lower variability in your day (i.e. stick to a routine), exercise consistently, and eat real, whole foods, etc. … then all of these things improve your ability to exhibit self-control and willpower.

As a result, you have more willpower. So, it takes willpower to do these things, but once you get it going, it’s a cycle that creates more of it.

Habits Lightning Round3 additional ideas for building better habits.

The Power of Repetitions

Every achievement is simply a point along a spectrum of repetitions.

Everyone compares results, but what you should really compare is repetitions.

The Power of Repetitions

Practice the skill that you actually want to be good at doing.

Making baskets, not running sprints. Practicing problems, not studying material. Publishing articles, not researching ideas. Calling customers, not searching for leads.

It sounds simple, but we often focus on the preparation and not the real performance.

Deliberate Practice

Examples: weight loss, strength gains, time management, most types of craftsmanship

Scott Young’s ideas on exponential growth and logarithmic growth

Two Types of Growth

Examples: business growth, blog subscribers, wealth and investing, etc.

1 year of work came before six months of growth.

If you’re working on something with logarithmic growth, don’t get discouraged when the improvements become more difficult.

If you’re working on something with exponential growth, don’t get discouraged when your “massive success” doesn’t come quickly.

The EndThanks for attending!