High-Level Thoughts
This is one of the most useful book on changing your habits, I’d recommend this book over most books aimed at helping you get control over your life.
Main Takeaways
- Habits are linked with personal identity
- Outcomes are delayed reaction to long stand habits
- How people talk about new habits, effects it implementation
- Good habits yield positive results over the long term
- Commitment device could be used to limit future actions. The definition of a commitment device is any step taken which makes a bad habit harder to do in the future. eg. Cutting up credit cards to save money.
Summary Notes
Small changes spark powerful transformations.
Small improvements compound over long time.
Western culture is obsessed with immediate results (I know I’m guilty of this)
People are too goal originated, should focus more of the systems that help them achieve their goals.
The process of building a habit can be divided into four stages:
- Cue
- Cue to watch TV might not be wanting to watch TV but instead seeing the remote control
- Craving
- Make the new behaviour attractive. eg Listen to a favourite album while on the treadmill at the gym.
- Response
- Make a behaviour automatic
- Make an environment that creates good choices, eg Remove unhealthy food from the house
- Reward
- Good habits should be satisfied and bad habits should be unpleasant
- Celebrate small wins
- Bad habits should be painful. “If I miss the gym, I’ll give a friend £10 for each day that I miss”
- Good habits should be satisfied and bad habits should be unpleasant
Self improvement is a life long process, not a terminal goal.
Small lifestyle tweaks can spark long term transformations
Key stone habit - unlocks seemingly unrelated changes. Reminds me of the ripple effect.
If a habit is linked to a goal rather than your core identity it may be harder to stick to. For example Jews don’t eat pork, but if you stopped eating pork because it was linked to a goal of getting healthier you’re more likely to fail. This links to what is your motivation for WHY you want to do something.
Habits are easier when a person feels answerable to someone else (This reminds me of why I have a personal trainer.)
Outcomes are a delayed reaction to lock standing habits.
The present isn’t a predictor of the future.
Human brain can’t predict yourself into the future.
Showing young people digitally altered photos of them self with grey hair and wrinkles, helped them save for pensions. They could imagine them self’s in later life, and thus felt more connected to their future self.
How people talk about a new habit effects it’s implementation
Frame new habits in a positive light and it’s more likely to stick.
Want to go to bed earlier? Focus on the positive outcome. “I’ll be well rested for work tomorrow” instead of “I’ll miss out on watching my favourite TV show”
Make executing the new routine as easy as possible. Links back to Cues.
Have an actionable plan when setting goals and use as more specificity as possible.
“I’d like to start getting more sleep” vs “I want to get an extra hour of sleep every-night, a goal I will achieve by starting to wind down by 9.30pm”
Speaking out-loud (even to an empty room) increases the chances of actually following through.
A new habit is more likely to stick if it’s easy.
Great effort ≠ real change
Matharon leaning is an example of this.
Getting messy over weeks, they then clean for hours once they reach a breaking point.
This means there houses are messier than they are clean, as they want to delay another marathon cleaning session.
If you clean every day, you wouldn’t need to the great effort of a marathon clean.
20/10 method. 20 minutes of effort followed by 10 minutes of break time.
How do you evaluate a good habit? Look at its effects over the long term.
Bad habits only pay off in the short term, delayed negative effects. eg Smoking to feel more relaxed now, but pay the cost in later life with health.
Happiest people in the world, surround them selfs with cues that encourage good behaviours.
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