Okay let's get to the fun stuff. We've chosen our habit and we're ready to incorporate it into our life. How the F%@$ do we do that? Contrary to popular opinion, simply by saying, "I'm going to workout more" doesn't quite do the trick. Inspired by the work of habits experts James Clear and BJ Fogg, this post will walk you through what does.
Get an Accountability Partner
An accountability partner is a hack to building habits. Accountability partners increase your chances of success by 95%. You can go it alone, but honestly, we don't recommend it if it can be avoided.
Find an accountability partner that you can build the same habit with. The ideal accountability partner is motivated like you, is around the same proficiency as you, and the same skill level as you. If you're new to running, you wouldn't want to build a new running habit with a marathoner or Ken Rideout.
Once your accountability partner is locked in, talk to them about how you're going to support each other: If and when do you want to do check ins? When can they expect you to do your habit? What do you want them to do if you don't log? Do you want eternal positivity or tough love? Ted Lasso or Coach Beard? Talk these things through and create a game plan for holding each other accountable.
Start small
This piece is so important that BJ Fogg wrote an entire book called Tiny Habits. When choosing what constitutes a 'success' when doing your habit, make that thing extremely small and easy to do. If you want to start a reading habit, commit to reading for 1 minute a day. Sound crazy? The crazy thing about it is that it works. When you're training your brain to build a new habit, the consistency and standardization is much more important than the performance and optimization of that habit.
Let's look at brushing your teeth for example. At this point in your life, you probably feel weird if you skip brushing your teeth. Not just the nasty feeling in your mouth, but an intrinsic off-ness, like there's an imbalance in the universe. That's because your brain is to used to doing that habit. Before we commit to reading for 60 minutes everyday, we need to train our brain that we are going to read everyday, period. And the best way to do that is to start small.
When we incorporate a new behavior into our routine, we're quite literally carving new neural pathways in your brain. At the start, you may need to pull out that machete and slowly bushwhack your way through. Only when that pathway is built can you pull out the F1 car and really push yourself.
So start small. Whatever you think you can do, cut it in half. If your goal is to exercise everyday and you've never exercised before, start by just going to the gym. You don't even need to workout. Just build the habit of going. Or start by doing push ups for 60 seconds. Set a timer, get on the ground, and just do as many push ups as you can in 60 seconds. Do that everyday. If you find yourself wanting to do more, that's great. But don't. Become proficient in that thing and only then should you consider expanding your habit.
More on the power of starting small here.
Make it easy
Habits are hard enough to build on their own. The stuff around them needs to be easy. Set yourself up for success with your routine and environment so that your habit fits in seamlessly and can be done immediately when it's time to execute. That's a lot of high level mumbo jumbo so here are contextual examples:
If you want to build an exercise habit, find a routine that works and stick with it so you know what you're doing when you get to the gym. Eliminate guesswork. Pack your gym bag the night before if you plan to go in the morning.
If you want to meditate more, find a meditation you like and schedule in your calendar when you're going to do it everyday. Save the link on your phone or have the app downloaded.
If you want to eat better, choose one meal for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. Eat those same meals everyday. Make sure you can make them in under 10 minutes. Don't complicate it with lots of time consuming recipes. Don't deviate until you feel more than ready.
Make it obvious
If you do this part right, you should never forget about your habit. Making it obvious is about adding cues into your routine that remind you to do your habit when it is time to do it. For example:
If you want to go to bed early, set a "Go to bed" alert on your phone and then put child locks on your streaming services during the hours you want to be asleep.
If you want to read more, put your book on your coffee table.
If you want to eat healthier, put fruit in a big basket on your kitchen table.
Build cues into your routine that you can immediately take action on. Build your routine so that you're not only reminded to do your habit, but you're reminded to do your habit when you're actually in a position to do it! A reminder to read does nothing if you don't have your book with you.
Make it attractive
Making your habit more attractive is about adding little wins into your otherwise not-so-fun-at-times habit. These little wins can carry you across the goal line when you're lacking motivation. For example:
If you want to go on walks, only listen to your favorite podcasts while you're out walking.
If you want to run more, plan your runs mid-day so that it acts as a nice break from work.
If you want to exercise more, try out all the gyms around you and choose the one with the best people so that you enjoy being in that particular environment.
The message is, it doesn't need to suck, and with a little bit of design, you can make it fun.
Make it rewarding
Making your habit rewarding ensures that your brain wants to do it again. This can be as simple as smiling when you complete your habit, or logging your habit in SquadUp so your partner can see it. That little boost of recognition can go a long way in carving those neural pathways. We caution against rewarding habits every single time, as research has shown that can actually decrease your chances of success. Instead, if you can create a variable reward system, then you're much more likely to be successful.
Create an Implementation Intention
So let's take what we learned above and turn it into one powerful, actionable statement called an Implementation Intention. Both James Clear and BJ Fogg have extremely similar versions of the Implementation Intention. It's essentially made up of your cue, followed by your habit, followed by your reward. It looks like this: After I (cue), I will (habit), then (reward).
Examples:
After I get dressed, I will go on a 10 minute walk, then make myself a cup of coffee.
After I get home from work, I will cook a healthy dinner, then watch 30 minutes of TV.
After I brush my teeth at night, I will pack my gym bag for the morning, then go to bed.
And there you have it. Hopefully now you understand how to turn an abstract habit into an actionable one. Post your habit on Instagram with your Implementation Intention and tag @squadup.app.
Check out this post if you're ready to start building your new habit.
