Making Habits Stick

Last year I sat down to make my new year’s resolutions and decided to do something different. Instead of abstract goals like “eat healthier” or “exercise more,” both of which I wanted to do, I made a list of habits. The thought process was, if I could form certain habits, they would lead to a desired outcome. 

The end result was a mixed bag. Here is the entire list of desired habits:

• Take only cold showers

• Read daily

• Drink water daily (wish it was already so)

• Log amount of protein eaten

• Floss teeth daily

• Write regularly

• Fast one day a week

• Exercise daily

Some stuck, others didn’t. Last week I read James Clear’s book Atomic Habits and realized why that was the case. There are only 4 rules required to make a habit stick: (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying. For the habits that stuck, all four rules were followed. For those that lasted a few months or weeks, they were breaking at least one of those rules. 

Here are two examples. I was easily able to log my protein intake. Every time I would open the notes section on my phone, I saw a note with the headline “PROTEIN LOG.” It was obvious. 

Since I was seeking to gain muscle, I would track trends in protein intake and see if it correlated with improvements in weightlifting. It was attractive.

No matter where or when I was eating, I had my phone with me. No need to carry around a journal or physically write anything down. It was easy.

I could look back through days, weeks, months of improvement and see that I was staying on track with something that directly contributed to a desired outcome. It was satisfying.

Now let’s take flossing my teeth daily. I made sure to keep a container of dental floss right next to my toothbrush. It was obvious.

I know that it’s a very important habit to have for maintaining good dental hygiene. It was attractive.

It’s set up perfectly for me to floss my teeth at the same time I brush my teeth. It was easy.

After flossing my teeth, there was never a rewarding experience at the end. I wasn’t satisfied, and the habit didn’t stick.

James Clear writes, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” That’s why the habits we have, and we all have more than we think, are of the utmost importance. Atomic habits are the foundation of the rest of our lives. 

We need to hit all four rules if we want to make a habit stick. The same goes true for breaking a habit and utilizing the inverse rules.

Similarly, I’m reminded of the book Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change. My favorite passage in the book describes how the most successful influencers “overdetermined change.” We know that there are many ways to influence someone. The book breaks it down into 6 categories: personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation, and structural ability. We all have our favorite one or two that we use, but people who utilize all six are exponentially more successful.