Communications Manager Kyla Merwin recommends Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Sooner or later, anyone who spends much time with me will see a Diet Coke in my hand. I’m a self-confessed “Coke” addict. I love the stuff. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks.
According to James Clear in his best-selling book, Atomic Habits, the first question I need to ask myself is this: Do I want to be the type of person who drinks Diet Coke all day every day? Answer: Yes. Yes, I do.
Ergo, I will fail at any attempts to stop drinking Diet Coke – even though I know it’s bad for me – because I cannot see myself as a non-Diet Coke drinker (yet).
At the core of Clear’s strategy is the notion that your habits shape your identity and visa versa. Put another way, to break an old habit or create a new one, you must focus on who you want to be rather that what you want to achieve.
Behavior that isn’t consistent with the self will not last, says Clear. The pull to act in a manner consistent with the person you see yourself as is very strong—stronger than the mere act of goal setting.
Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight “tooth and nail to maintain your habits,” says Clear.
At this point, Clear gives you concrete tools to build good habits and break undesirable ones (like, say, four-five Diet Cokes a day). Such tools include:
Four Laws of Behavior Change: Habits are created from a feedback loop that involves a cue, followed by a craving, then a response, and finally the reward. Clear’s laws are to make the habit obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.
Habit Stacking: By tagging a new habit to an existing habit, you create a natural momentum that will help you build a desirable habit. If you want to build a daily habit of gratitude, for example, you can link a gratitude statement to your morning cup of coffee.
The Goldilocks Zone: To help you maintain good habits, Clear points to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. If your actions are too easy, you’ll get bored. If they are too hard, you’ll give up. To stay motivated, you have to find actions that are “just right”—that is, right on the edge of your current abilities.
For me at this time, giving up Diet Coke is way too far past my current abilities; I don’t yet see myself as a non-Diet-Coke-drinker. In the meantime, though, I’m building a new good habit of gratitude every morning when I hear the crack-fizz of the pop can opening.
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