How to easily build good habits 4 secrets from research

How to easily build good habits 4 secrets from researchHow to easily build good habits 4 secrets from researchYou have a long list of things you know you should be doing regularly But for some reason, you just dont do them. Whats the deal?The solution is building habits. Doing hard things isnt hard if youre on autopilot. But how do we make building habits simple and painless?James Clear has a lot of very good, research-backed answers in his new bestsellerAtomic Habits An Easy Proven Way to Build Good Habits Break Bad Ones.James lays out 4 laws of behavior change that are so simple, even I can do them. (And that means you can, too.)Alright, lets breakem down 1) Make it obviousVague is the enemy. I want to exercise mora is usually another way of saying, I want to continue disappointing myself.On the other hand, you could say Every morning at 7 AM Im going to lift weights for an hour at the gym around the corner.If I said that, youd be much mora likely to believe I was going to follow through. And if you say it, studies show youre mora likely to actuallydoit.Its what researchers call an implementation intention. (People without a PhD call it a plan.)FromAtomic HabitsHundreds of studies have shown that implementation intentions are effective for sticking to our goals, whether its writing down the exact time and date of when you will get a flu shot or recording the time of your colonoscopy appointment. They increase the odds that people will stick with habits like recycling, studying, going to sleep early, and stopping smokingThe formula for creating an implementation intention is pretty simpleI will BEHAVIOR at TIME in LOCATION.Another way to get the same effect is by using habit stacking. Tie the new habit to an old habit.FromAtomic HabitsHabit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention. Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit.And the formula for habit stacking is pretty simple tooAf ter CURRENT HABIT, I will NEW HABIT.After I wake up, I will do 20 push-ups.After the crime, I will hide any evidence.Chain together enough new habits and youll be in great shape while spending far less time in prison.(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling bookhere.)So your new habit plan is clear. But how do you get yourself towantto do it?2) Make it attractiveFun gets done. Of course, if most good habits were fun, youd already be doing them. But theres still a valuable lesson here if we combine fun stuff with not-so-fun stuff, the latter is more likely to be completed.So the answer is what researchers call temptation bundling.FromAtomic HabitsTemptation bundling is one way to apply a psychology theory known as Premacks Principle. Named after the work of professor David Premack, the principle states that more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors. In other words, even if you dont really want to process overdue work emails, youll become conditioned to do it if it means you get to do something you really want to do along the way.James tells the story of a clever engineer who loved Netflix and hated exercising. So he wrote a computer program that wouldonlyallow Netflix to play if his stationary bike was cycling above a certain speed. Smart.Combine something you love with a habit you want to build and youll find yourself doing it a lot more often. If you love audiobooks but dont like cleaning, you only get to listen to Harry Potter when you scrub the bathroom. If youre naturally sadistic but dont enjoy the gym, sign up for boxing classes so you can get your exercise while punching people.Another way to make new habits more attractive is to leverage our natural sheep-like tendencies. The people around you influence youa lot more than you think. Spend more time with those who have the habits you want and youre more likely to follow through. More afternoons with friends who read a lot, fewer evenings with h eroin addicts.FromAtomic HabitsWhen astronaut Mike Massimino was a graduate student at MIT, he took a small robotics class. Of the ten people in that class,fourbecame astronauts. If your goal was to make it into space, then that room was about the best culture you could ask for. Similarly, one study found that the higher your best friends IQ at age eleven or twelve, the higher your IQ would be at age fifteen, even after controlling for natural levels of intelligence. We soak up the qualities and practices of those around us.Peer pressure is a wonderful thing - if youre deliberate about it.(To learn the two-word morning ritual that will make you happy all day, clickhere.)Okay, temptations successfully bundled. But new habits can still be intimidating. Dont worry theres a fix for that problem 3) Make it easyIf you make it harder to engage in bad habits and easier to engage in good habits, your inherent laziness can guide you toward better behavior.FromAtomic HabitsThe central idea is to create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible. Much of the battle of building better habits comes down to finding ways to reduce the friction associated with our good habits and increase the friction associated with our bad ones.If you want to exercise on Sunday morning instead of playing Xbox all day, put your workout clothes next to the bed before you go to sleep and put the video game controllers in the closet. If you want to get healthier, put fruit on the kitchen countertop and put the snacks in a concrete bunker next to drums of nuclear waste.Another way to make new habits easier is to start as small as humanly possible. Stanford researcher BJ Fogg calls this minimum viable effort.Want to start flossing? Commit to flossing just one tooth. Yes, its ridiculous but its so ridiculously simple you have no excuse not to do it. You can increase the amount of teeth you floss over time. First just focus on being consistent.FromAtomic HabitsThe idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. Anyone can meditate for one minute, read one page, or put one item of clothing away. And, as we have just discussed, this is a powerful strategy because once youve started doing the right thing, it is much easier to continue doing it. A new habit should not feel like a challenge. The actions that follow can be challenging, but the first two minutes should be easy. What you want is a gateway habit that naturally leads you down a more productive path.Nobody starts by smoking a pack a day. They start with one cigarette. But with time and effort you can go from merely smoking one to Oops. Bad example. But you get the point.(To learn the neuroscience secret to how to quit bad habits without willpower, clickhere.)So its simple to start new habits when you start simple. But how do you make sure youkeepdoing them?4) Make it satisfyingJames calls this The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change.FromAtomic HabitsWhat is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.Reward yourself immediately after completing your new habit. If the puppy does a trick, it gets a treat. (Yes, youre the puppy in this metaphor.)FromAtomic HabitsIn the beginning, you need a reason to stay on track. This is why immediate rewards are essential. They keep you excited while the delayed rewards accumulate in the background. What were really talking about here is the ending of a behavior. The ending of any experience is vital because we tend to remember it more than the other phases. You want the ending of your habit to be satisfying. The best approach is to use reinforcement, which refers to the process of using an immediate reward to increase rate of behavior.Give any chore a satisfying ending and youre more likely to do it. Do your homework and you can watch television. Mom was on to something with that one.(To learn the 4 rituals from neuroscience that will make you happy, clickhere.)Okay, thanks to James weve learned a lot. L ets round it all up and find out how to maintain rock-solid good habits over the long haul Sum upThis is how to easily build good habitsMake It Obvious Set a specific time and place. Or tie the new habit to an old habit.Make It Attractive Bundle fun stuff with new habits.Make It Easy Start with flossing justonetooth.Make It Satisfying Reward yourself after you finish.So how do you maintain good habits? How do you become one of those people who sticks to their goals no matter what happens?Make them part of your identity.FromAtomic HabitsThe ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. Its one thing to say Im the type of person whowantsthis. Its something very different to say Im the type of person whoisthis. The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it. If youre proud of how your hair looks, youll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it Once your pride gets involved, youll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.Its no longer something you do, its who youare. Start enough good habits and you wont just do better things Youll be a better person.Join over 320,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.This article first appeared on Barking Up The Wrong Tree.