The first part of the SquadUp Methodology for building lasting healthy habits is choosing a habit. You may be thinking, "but Chris, it's just choosing a habit, it's simple, why even include this in the SquadUp Methodology?" Because simple doesn't mean easy.
If you take away one thing from post, it needs to be this: Choosing the right habit can be the difference between success and failure.
The reason we dedicate so much attention toward choosing the right habit is because the habit you choose needs to have a direct and positive impact on your ability to achieve your true goals. And sometimes, defining our true goals can be difficult. Furthermore, choosing one habit means saying no to all the other habits. You are committing to this habit (for now), and therefore saying No to all the other habits (for now).
This blog dives into this and helps you understand how to think about choosing the right habit for you.
Choose a habit that supports your true goals.
This is harder than it sounds. The main reason? A lot of people don't know what they truly want. In today's society we are told what we should want by family, friends, co-workers, brands and influencers, whether it's well intended or not. No one besides you can truly know what you want out of life.
So this is about thinking deeply about your goals. What do you truly want? Look at the different areas of your life: Where are the biggest gaps in between where you are today and where you want to be? Which areas matter the most to you? Which of those have the biggest gaps. Focus on those areas. Is there one common thread that spans across these areas? Can you build a habit to support that thread? Check out the Habit Coach for helping walking through this process.
Keystone Habits
If you're unsure where to start, we always recommend starting with a Keystone Habit. A Keystone Habit is a habit that, once built, makes it easier to build other healthy habits. Like cleaning the kitchen before cooking a meal, building a Keystone habit lays the proper foundation for cooking up a new habit.
The ultimate Keystone Habit is getting better sleep. Better sleep is one single habit that will give you more energy, enhance your mood, and improve your mental acuity, which can help you build an exercise habit, a meditation habit, a healthy eating habit, etc. Keystone habits also condition your mind to build habits, making it easier to build any new habits afterward.
This goes for all habits. When you train your brain in the art of building habits, every subsequent habit becomes easier to build.
Stick with one habit
Raise your hand if you've ever tried building multiple habits at once and failed at them all. You better be raising your hand right now. One of the biggest mistakes we can make when choosing a habit is trying to build more than one at a time. Please let this sink in: while it is possible, it is not worth it.
Imagine working on two habits for a month and failing at both. You're back at square one, and you just wasted a month. On top of that, you just trained your brain to fail. Subconsciously you identify yourself with failure, and it's going to be much harder to build a single habit than it was at the outset. So you've wasted a month and you're actually in a worse position than when you started. You're at square negative 1.
Conversely, during that month you could have become 100% proficient at one of those habits. By the end of that month one habit is built. You're halfway toward your goal. Not only that, but you carry the positive brain training and momentum of success into your next habit, thereby making that process go by much quicker and increasing chances of success significantly. Say it with me: I will only work on one habit at a time.
Let's wrap this up and get started
So to summarize, be intentional about the habit you choose to build. Make sure it aligns with your true goals. Prioritize Keystone habits if they aren't already solidly built into your life. Focus on one habit at a time. Godspeed. Go get em.
Check out this post if you're ready to start designing your new habit.
