‘All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision.’ - James Clear
Is there a person alive who doesn’t want to change something about their life, about how and who they are in the world? Perhaps you want to get more sleep, reduce your phone usage, or study more effectively. You might want to exercise more, improve a relationship or be more productive at work. Maybe you dream of mastering a musical instrument. You may feel a sense of dissatisfaction, or purposelessness.
In so many different types of life transformation, it’s common to start with a ‘go big or go home’ attitude: either do it properly or you may as wellloop not bother. And occasionally that can work - you’re more than ready for a big change, jump in with two feet, and your new habit clicks right away. But if that’s something you’ve tried before and it hasn’t stuck, you are most definitely not alone. It turns out that there’s another way to change your behaviour and it’s all about repeating lots and lots of tiny habits.
In 2018, the writer James Clear published his bestselling book ‘Atomic Habits’, with the tagline ‘tiny changes, remarkable results’. The book has now sold over ten million copies worldwide, and over two million people subscribe to his weekly newsletter. In this blog, we’re going to dive in to find out what James Clear says about habit-building, and how and why his tag line can apply to all our lives.
The compounding effect
‘Nature never hurries: atom by atom, little by little, she achieves her work.’ - Ralph Waldo Emerson
In financial terms, ‘compound interest’ refers to the principle that when you save money, as well as earning interest on the principal sum, you also earn interest on that interest. Therefore, over time, your savings will increase exponentially, rather than linearly. As with money, the effect of daily and weekly habits multiply as you repeat them. To use the example often given by James Clear, if you improve something by 1% per day, by the end of the year you will end up with a total improvement of almost 37%. If by contrast, you worsen by 1% every day, then you’ll end up sitting just above zero! Clear uses this example to show that small habits really do make a very big difference.
If you go to bed 15 minutes earlier every night for a week, you’ll gain 105 minutes’ extra sleep or rest over that week. Over a year, that’s 5,475 minutes or over 91 hours’ more sleep or rest than if you hadn’t changed your bedtime.
The same goes for phone usage. If you decide to establish a new habit of spending 15 minutes less per day on scrolling through social media - over a year, that’s over 91 hours freed up to spend on something else more valuable to you.
Identity change
‘Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity. This is one reason why meaningful change does not require radical change. Small habits can make a meaningful difference by providing evidence of a new identity. And if a change is meaningful, it is actually big. That's the paradox of making small improvements.’ - James Clear
Do you ever pause to reflect on what you believe about yourself? Do you believe you’re lazy because you never exercise? Or that you’re terrible at maths? These self-beliefs, whether conscious or subconscious, have more impact than we realise on how we live our lives and how we can make changes to our habits.
The way that James Clear describes behaviour change is fascinating. There are three levels at which change can occur:
Changing your outcome - this level is to do with goals and results, for example: eat more healthily, run a marathon, pass your driving test.
Changing your process - this level is to do with altering your systems and habits, for example: making a healthy meal plan, shopping for healthy food; developing a running routine; studying for your driving theory test etc.
Changing your identity - this is the deepest ‘layer’ of behaviour change, which is to do with changing your beliefs, your self-image, your worldview and judgments about yourself and others.
Most people begin habit-building by focusing on level 1 and then level 2. But extrinsic motivation - motivation driven by external rewards - that doesn’t match your internal beliefs usually doesn’t last long. That’s why you may be able to curb your spending in the short term by working towards a goal of saving money for a particular outfit or holiday, but once the goal is reached you go back to your old spendthrift ways. Your identity and self-image remain someone who spends rather than saves.
Motivation driven by internal rewards - intrinsic motivation - tends to be far more effective and long-lasting. So how do you start with level 3 and build identity-based habits? By deciding who you want to be, and then proving it to yourself over and over with tiny wins. Over time, you’ll develop pride with that part of your identity, and the more pride you feel, the more motivated you’ll be to maintain the habits connected to it. And the more you repeat a behaviour or habit, the more you reinforce the identity connected to that behaviour. For these results, it’s helpful to shift how you think about your outcomes too:
The goal is not to write a novel, the goal is to become a writer.
The goal is not to ride an Etape road cycling race, the goal is to become a cyclist.
The goal is not to pass your driving test, the goal is to become a driver.
Focus on building systems
‘You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.’ - James Clear
James Clear shifts the common focus from goal-setting to system-building. It’s all very well stating an ambitious goal, but how are you actually going to get there? What is the process that will lead to achieving the goal or outcome you want?
For example, if you’re a student, your goal might be to pass your exams. Your system is the way you attend class, engage with your teacher or tutor, manage your workload, and use your study time.
If you’re an apprentice electrician, your goal might be to complete your apprenticeship. Your system is how you attend work, complete your coursework and prepare for your assessments.
As Clear says, ‘Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress’. Good systems involve the building of lots of small, effective habits that, repeated again and again over time, support you to achieve your goals, build the life you want and become the person you want to be.
The habit loop
‘There is a direct connection between what you feel when you do a behaviour and the likelihood that you will repeat the behaviour in the future.’ - B.J. Fogg
The more automatic a habit is, the less effort you need to put into doing it. Automatic habits are built through a four-part neurological feedback loop, which is known as ‘the habit loop’.
A cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward.
For example, take my habit of eating dark chocolate with a herbal tea in the evening:
The cue is the flick of the switch on the kettle
The craving for chocolate is triggered
A response is motivated - I open the kitchen drawer and snap off some squares of dark chocolate from a larger bar
The reward is the warm feeling of snuggling on my sofa, enjoying my cup of tea and chocolate, along with the positive mood-boosting effects of the dark chocolate.
Building and breaking habits
James Clear sets out the ‘laws’ of habit building - and habit breaking! - as follows.
To start and maintain new, healthy habits:
The 1st Law (Cue): Make it Obvious
The 2nd Law (Craving): Make it Attractive
The 3rd Law (Response): Make it Easy
The 4th Law (Reward): Make it Satisfying
Example:
My goal is to become fitter, stronger and calmer. Part of my system to achieve my goal is to practise yoga for 15 minutes every morning. There are lots of ways I can support this process using Clear’s laws:
Make it Obvious:
I set the implementation intention ‘I will practise yoga at 7.00am in my living room every morning’.
I use Clear’s concept of ‘habit stacking’ - ‘After my alarm rings and I get up [current habit], I will put on my yoga clothes and practise yoga [new habit].
I design my environment to support my habit - at bedtime, I lay out my yoga clothes right beside my bed so that I put them on as soon as I get up. I also clear my space to exercise, and roll out my yoga mat the night before.
Make it Attractive:
I pair something I need to do (exercise) with something I want to do (enjoy my essential oils). I place my oil burner beside my yoga mat the night before - that way I get to enjoy the beautiful aromas during my morning yoga practice.
I join an online early morning yoga class once a week to provide a sense of community and accountability.
Make it Easy:
I reduce friction and prime my environment by preparing my mat, oil burner and yoga clothes the night before, thereby making my habit as easy as possible to achieve.
I reduce my commitment to 5 or 10 minutes of yoga to start with, then build up as the habit becomes established.
Make it Satisfying:
I reinforce my habit by giving myself an immediate reward when I complete it - for example, make a cup of my favourite herbal tea after yoga.
I use a habit tracker to record when I complete my habit, and try not to ‘break the chain’.
I use delayed gratification by making a visual record of progress, such as putting a coloured bead in a jar every time I practise yoga - when the jar is full I can book on to a weekend yoga retreat.
To reduce or eliminate doing established, unhealthy habits:
Inversion of the 1st Law (Cue): Make it Invisible
Inversion of the 2nd Law (Craving): Make it Unattractive
Inversion of the 3rd Law (Response): Make it Difficult
Inversion of the 4th Law (Reward): Make it Unsatisfying
Example:
It’s obvious that my evening dark chocolate eating habit described above fulfils the four laws! Unfortunately, I also know that I sleep better when I don’t eat later in the evening. If my goal is to improve my sleep, then one part of the process towards achieving that goal is to reduce how much I eat after 8pm. Following Clear’s method, again there are many ways to support this:
Make it Invisible:
I reduce exposure by removing all chocolate from the house.
I move food items around my kitchen to break the habit of slipping my hand into the kitchen drawer for the chocolate.
Make it Unattractive:
I only keep chocolate that I don’t like in the house, for others I live with to eat.
I reframe my mindset by putting a label on the chocolate that reminds me of the negative effect it has on my sleep.
Make it Difficult:
Instead of keeping my chocolate where I can easily reach it in the kitchen drawer, I put it in a box on a high shelf in the cupboard - that way every time I want to eat it, I need to use the step-stool and open a box. This friction - the extra steps between me and my habit - could be enough to allow me to pause and think about whether I really want to eat the chocolate at that moment.
Make it Unsatisfying:
I use my housemate as an accountability partner - each time they see me going for the chocolate, they have to ask me if I really want it.
Getting started
‘Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.’ - Warren Buffett
There are many, many ways to build up and break down habits. But the first step is to become aware of your own current habits, and what you want to change. James Clear suggests creating your own personal Habits Scorecard. This is a list of your own daily habits, along with an assessment of whether each one is good for you, bad for you, or neutral. For example, morning exercise might be ‘good’, coffee might be ‘bad’ and taking a shower might be ‘neutral’. In this context, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are used as shorthand to describe whether or not the habit is effective for your systems, and ultimately for helping you to achieve your goals. This will vary from person to person. The creation of your Habits Scorecard allows you the opportunity to really notice what you are doing day-to-day, and how you are spending your precious time.
‘Once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom - and the responsibility - to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work.’ - Charles Duhigg
When you are honest with yourself about what you are actually doing every day, you have the opportunity to become very intentional about the habits you want to maintain, build and eliminate. Which habits are compounding and taking you closer to your goals? Which are holding you back? You might use a journal or notebook to help you do this, and keep a ‘habit tracker’ going forward.
When introducing new habits, start small and build up over time. Tiny steps are best. And when you miss one - a planned study or exercise session, a phone call with a friend, an early night - just start again tomorrow. You’re only human! There are also essential benefits to doing regular reassessments of your habits - this dedicated time for self-reflection helps you to feel more connected to your life, and to your authentic purpose.
Our challenge to you
Set aside an hour or so to reflect on where you are in your life, and where you want to be. Be really honest with yourself! You can’t change something if you’re not aware of it. Now make a note of all your daily and weekly habits - a Habits Scorecard - and assess whether each is supporting or hurting your efforts, or is neutral. Pick one habit to maintain, one to build, and one to reduce or eliminate in the coming week. Then schedule another appointment with yourself next week to review how it went for you. We’d love to hear how you get on!
Finally, please let us know if there are any topics related to habits, routines and life direction that you’d like us to cover.
‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?’ Mary Oliver, from The Summer Day
Further resources:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman