The SquadUp Methodology is our proprietary method for building lasting healthy habits. We pulled together information from leading habit experts like James Clear, BJ Fogg, Charles Duhigg, and others, along with leading behavioral science and psychology research and our own experimentation to create this bulletproof method for building healthy habits and keeping them.
There are four Steps to the SquadUp Methodology. We’ll introduce each below, and you can learn more about each step in it’s own blog post.
Step 1: Choosing a habit
This step is all about choosing the right habit for you to build at any given time. Through the method you will dive deeply into your true goals, find common threads among them, and uncover a keystone habit that, like a rising tide, will raise you up closer toward achieving these goals. For an in-depth look at how to choose a habit you can check out this blog post.
Keystone habits, as written about by Charles Duhigg, are foundational habits that can serve as a launchpad for other habits. For instance, the habit of sleeping better can improve someone's energy, mood, and mental acuity, which can make it easier for someone to build an exercise habit, a meditation habit, or a better eating habit.
Just by sleeping better, we increase our chances of success in all these other areas of our life. That's just one example of a Keystone habit.
Step 2: Designing a habit
Here we get into the details. Once you have a Keystone habit (i.e. I want to go to bed early) Step 2 is about turning that desire into a concrete, actionable habit surrounded by a sustainable routine and powered by an accountability partner.
When designing a habit we follow the expert guidance of James Clear and BJ Fogg, keeping our habit small, easy, obvious, attractive, and satisfying to do. Lastly we round it out with an actionable implementation intention.
The SquadUp Methodology heavily leverages the power of Accountability Partners, and in this step you'll learn how to choose the right one and how to support and challenge each other. Check out this blog post for help designing a habit.
Step 3: Building a habit
Ok, so we know what we want to do and how we plan to do it. Now we need to actually get out there and build this habit. Easier said than done. This step focuses on how to actually build this habit.
To start, this step addresses the monkey in the room: how long is this going to take? Do I need to do this forever? Someone told me I just need to do this for 21 days, is that true?
Understand that building a habit is much different than keeping a habit. The SquadUp Methodology makes this distinction. When building a habit, you should only be building one habit at a time. You should also have a 'Proficiency Goal' in mind. Proficiency is the point at which you can do the habit on auto-pilot and no longer consider it a habit you're building. It's when you did it! At SquadUp we aim for and celebrate proficiency because it's a big deal. Giving you a timeframe shifts your mental image of this from something infinite and ambiguous to something containable and therefore attainable within a given timeframe.
We believe that proficiency is highly variable depending on the difficulty of the habit being pursued. We also believe that frequency and consistency wins over days spent on a habit. So we operate using a 24 point system. Once you reach 24 points using our propreitary system, you're likely proficient. From there you can decide if you want to keep going, choose a new habit, or scrap it altogether. However, for harder habits, we'd recommend you consider going another 24 points to really let it sink in.
For many reasons, habit tracking is a proven method for increased habit building success. The SquadUp Methodology leverages the power of habit tracking and adds it's own spin to make it really effective.
Throughout the building of your habit, the SquadUp Methodology helps you and your accountability partner support and challenge one another. Other habit apps try to be the accountability partner. We believe that's a recipe for failure. So instead, we focus on showing you and your partner how to be better accountability partners. Teach them to fish right?
Check out this blog post for more help on building a habit.
Step 4: Keeping a habit
If you made it to Step 4 then congratulations are in order. You're officially proficient in your new habit! We, like everyone, hate it when we lose healthy habits that we've built over time, so Step 4 is about arming you with the tools you need to keep that habit. There are two paths you can take:
Expand or build on this habit. If you just built a habit of reading for 5 minutes everyday, then consider increasing that to 10 minutes. If you just built a habit of going to bed early, maybe start a habit of waking up early. See where you can now use this habit to help you build a new one. Relying on this habit in order to build your new one will keep you motivated to keep this habit in check.
Reflect on this habit weekly. At the end of your week, check in with this habit to see how it's doing. Is it still strong? Are you still proficient? If the answer is No, consider making it a priority again and moving it back into the Build step.
Or not, and that's okay too. With some habits, the lessons we learn from them are enough to carry forward. For instance, a habit of drinking 24 ounces of water first thing in the morning helps us learn to stay hydrated. Once that belief becomes intrinsic, we naturally drink more water in the morning and throughout the day, and don't necessarily need to drink 24 ounces first thing in the morning, although it certainly doesn't hurt!
For more info on keeping habits, check out this blog post.
There you have it. A summary of the SquadUp Methodology. We designed and tested this with you in mind. There is no question, this will help you build lasting healthy habits. So grab an accountability partner and let's get started.
