“The kind of life we lead today is
essentially the product of our habits - our daily routines, our daily
processes.”— Jim Berry
Some years
back, after reading a little about habit stacking, I decided to put it into
practice to ascertain its effectiveness. And now, I can confirm that it works—fantastically.
So to begin afresh
for you, let’s start with the meaning of a key word, “stack” on the concept of
habit stacking. The dictionary defines it as: “a pile of things more or less
neatly arranged one on top of another.” And the last part of that definition
about orderly arrangement is what I want to emphasize for the purpose of this
article.
Therefore, habit
stacking is about using an old habit as a foundation to build new ones; a
thoughtful arrangement and association of new behaviours with an old habit. It
is about creating a new, good habit with the aid of an already established one.
In other
words, you are using what you are already good at, as the basis for getting
good at something new. For example, if you eat three times a day, as a matter
of habit. Then you can attach a new, good behaviour of thanksgiving to God for
His provisions for you after each meal.
Without this
conscious plan of habit stacking, you may say you want to give thanks every day
but never actually do, due to many reasons and excuses like forgetfulness or
negligence. Stacking is how you make it a lifelong practice.
However, you
still need to be focused enough to make the new addition into a solid habit,
especially, during the first 30 days as S. J. Scott states in his book, ‘Resolutions
that Stick.’ He writes: "If you want to establish a new habit, you must
focus on it until it has become a permanent part of your daily routine."
To implement
Scott’s counsel, ensure you perform the new behaviour, right after the old one,
every time. Use the following formula as a daily reminder to always keep
yourself on the right track in the field of habit stacking: ‘the same thing, the same sequence, every single
time.’
Other factors
that you need to consider to make the most of this practice are: one, it should
be a meaningful behaviour that adds real value to you; and two, it should fit very
well into your life.
The fitting
element is the crucial factor of success in habit stacking. This is because by
placing the new behaviour in an appropriate place in your routine and
lifestyle, you give yourself the best chance of making it stick with a minimal amount
of effort.
Joining
behaviours together through stacking is a great way of making positive changes happen
because as we perform them in concert on daily basis, we easily create a new
synergized pattern for a better life, going forward.
Kellie
Sullivan writes in his book, ‘Habits: 5O Best Habits To Create A Successful
Life,’ as follows: “Good habits can be developed through repetition. By
incorporating behaviors, task and attitude to the regular routines, they
usually become a habit, thus becoming natural and virtually effortless.”
So to become
a stronger person without much strain, simply think of a useful seed of
behaviour that you can incorporate into your life today, then plant it on the
fertile soil of a firmly establish habit in your day.
I dare you
to try this within the next 30 days to attest the awesome power of habit
stacking for yourself.
