Small Steps to Better Habits
A Valentine’s Day celebrated and a Super Bowl contested. With these two recent celebrations in the rearview mirror, it’s a good time to assess progress toward personal goals established at the turn of the New Year.
Making changes to achieve goals can be intimidating, challenging us to prioritize actions that drive improvement while also dealing with everyday life. Whether the goals are simple or complex, it’s no easy task to take action and develop new habits.
Late last year I read the book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear. It provides excellent observations about habits and the difficulty in establishing those we desire. It also outlines how to achieve change through a simple system that builds good habits to move us consistently toward our goals and break bad habits that hinder progress.
In my case, I have a history of my back going out that I blame on a weekend years ago spent removing non-native buckthorn trees. Since then, my back has gone out several times, even when simply reaching down to pet our dog, Lucy. Each time it happens, I become an amusement to my family as I lay on the couch unable to get up without help.
What does this have to do with Atomic Habits? In the book, Clear discusses the benefit of creating a system that eases new habit building. One element is to use existing habits or routines to trigger the action needed to develop a new habit. Each time the existing routine is executed the new action is taken. Clear calls this Habit Stacking.
I knew I needed to stretch my back regularly and build core muscle strength if I wanted to be physically fit. I would think, “I should stretch today and do some crunches”. And I might or might not. Usually not. Should is not an action word.
After reading Atomic Habits, I prioritized a healthy back by planning to do my prescribed stretching routine three times each day: Immediately after rolling out of bed in the morning; during the day after one of three dog walks; and immediately before climbing into bed at night. I stacked stretching on top of existing routines, times when my back reminds me it is tight. The loose, relaxed feeling after a good stretch is an enjoyable reward for only investing twenty to thirty minutes each day in a healthy activity.
After three months of following this simple system I no longer think about if or when I will stretch my back. It is now part of my standard routines easily modified to include stretching. There is no longer a question of should. It just happens, like walking the dog no matter the weather.
Any habit you want to develop (or break) will be easier to achieve using the information and tools in Atomic Habits that will help you establish a simple system that works for you.