Get It Done Already!

Is there something you’ve been wanting to achieve but somehow just never manage to make it happen? It’s likely that what you’re aiming for isn’t too much of a stretch, but the way you’re going about it is. Hopefully the information I’m serving up today will give you solid insights to hit your target, finally!

In his New York Times best-selling book, “Atomic Habits”, James Clear provides a clear path to lasting change. Having just seen him at a live event, I was inspired to share the steps with you here because I know that a new perspective can make all the difference. You’ll find the book far more insightful, so I encourage you to grab a copy for a deeper dive in this magical approach to habit shifts.

A key point that Clear decribes is the aggregations of small, incremental steps, made repeatedly, that bring about meaningful change. He calls these “The Power of Tiny Gains”. A 1% improvement, maintained over the course of time, creates exponentially more than we imagine. Think of compound interest. A small amount saved over the course of forty years could lead to a healthy nest egg at retirement age. “Excellence is not about radical changes, but about occurring small improvements over time,” Clear explains. Let’s dive in.

The 4 elements in Clear’s behavior change framework include:

1. Cue - Provide a trigger that tells your brain to initiate a habit.

2. Craving - The prediction that compels you to act.

3. Response - The actual habit you perform.

4. Reward - The result that satisfies your craving.

These are the laws that make Clear’s system successful:

1. Cue - Law 1: Make it obvious. Physical cues in your environment have a powerful affect.

For example, if your intention is to workout daily, place your workout gear where it’s easy to see. (Conversely, remove tempting items from sight and make them challenging to access.)

2. Craving - Law 2: Make it attractive.

We have an innate craving to belong. To be successful with a habit, the habit must be embraced by those with whom you surround yourself. You may succeed for a short time when others aren’t supportive, but eventually slide backwards because of the uncontrollable power of social inertia. Join a group where the desired behavior is the normal behavior.

3. Response - Law 3: Make it easy.

Each morning, there is a moment that determines the rest of your day. Determine the entry point for the work you want to accomplish to be initiated. Adding a habit to a series of routines you already have in place can make the new habit easier to implement.

4. Reward - Law 4: Make it satisfying.

Clear uses the “Seinfeld strategy where Jerry explains, “Don’t break the chain!” to make this point. Commit to maintaining your new habits without interruption. Create a log where tick marks indicate each time to complete the new habit. Your mind will find great satisfaction in seeing the repeated check marks. And, if you do miss, never miss twice.

One of my favorite points made at the close of Clear’s speech was to focus on being vs doing.

(This is the stuff you know I love!) Clear maintains that you have to think of yourself as the person you are becoming in order to easily maintain the new habit. “The goal is not to read a book. The goal is to become a reader.” Further, “the goal is not to run a marathon. The goal is to become a runner.” When you can embrace the future version of you, you activate energy systems that act on your behalf to massively improve your outcomes.

I’ll end on this powerful quote from Clear’s lecture -

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”