Begin with the end in mind
It is ironic that I have difficulty writing this week’s column on forming good habits because I am distracted from googling this and that, responding to a few emails, signing up for barre classes during my visit to NC, rehearsing a dialogue I need to have with the board of directors over spending--and the list goes on.
While I would like to say it’s easy to create a new habit, a study on habit creation published by the European Journal of Social Psychology found that habits develop in a range of 18 to 254 days. Participants in the study reported taking an average of about 66 days to reliably incorporate a new habit–eating one piece of fruit with lunch, drinking a bottle of water with lunch, or running 15 minutes before dinner. Consistent daily repetition was the biggest influencer of whether a behavior would become part of an automatic routine.
As with saving money, the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions can make a world of difference in forming habits. Making just tiny changes can have remarkable results.
Here is a six-part approach to forming good habits.
Establish a goal. What do you want to see after 60 days of following your new habit? How will you know when you get there if you don’t know where you’re going? Try to set a measurable goal: lose five pounds, stop nail biting, put some money in savings, call your mother. Stephen Covey said it for us: Begin with the end in mind.
Stack your habits. Experts say one way to form a new habit is to tie it to an existing habit. Look for patterns in your daily life and think about how you can use existing habits/routines to create new positive habits. For instance, perhaps you have a strong morning routine. That may be a place to stack a new habit. Perhaps it is doing a few stretches in bed before you get up or practicing your balance by standing on one leg or doing a few squats while your brush your teeth.
Start small and do it every day. The lesson here is that habits take a long time to create, and they will form faster when we do them more often. Therefore, think of starting small, like taking a five-minute brisk walk, doing two yoga poses, or doing one pushup rather than trying three barre classes a week. Remember that money-in-the-bank effect.
Make it easy. Reduce the friction, clear out the obstacles. Face it--if it’s a hassle to do, you most likely won’t do it. The author of Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick, calls the forces that get in the way of good habits “friction.” Researchers in one study changed the timing of elevator doors so that workers had to wait nearly 30 seconds for the doors to close. (Normally the doors closed after 10 seconds.) It was enough of a delay to convince many people that taking the stairs was easier than waiting for the elevator. “It shows how sensitive we are to small friction in our environment,” says the author. “Just slowing down the elevator got people to take the stairs, and they stuck with it even after the elevator went back to normal timing.”
The author notes that marketers are already experts in reducing friction, inducing us to spend more or order more food. For instance, Amazon has a “one-click” button, and fast-food companies make it easy to supersize. We are influenced easily by how things are organized in marketing and often are exploited, but becoming more aware of how to reduce the friction in our lives perhaps will put us on a path to form excellent habits.
Reward yourself. Do not judge yourself and set your expectations appropriately. Remember that it will take anywhere from two months to almost a year to form a habit, and it can take longer for the rewards of the habit to appear, like weight loss. Be gentle with yourself, do not judge yourself harshly, and keep your expectations in check. Slow and steady wins the race. Focus on doing the work, and the rewards will come. If you began with the end in mind, you will awaken in the right place.
Feel free to share your thoughts with me: ashton@ashtoncannon.com.
Ashton Graham is an educator, book publisher, photographer, cowgirl and yoga teacher if you are interested in “Maintaining Balance” visit www.ashtoncannon.com to subscribe to my newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Begin with the end in mind
