“Men's natures are alike; it is their
habits that separate them.” Confucius
Today, we
shall peep into the findings of a master teacher in the field of human
psychology, James Clear, who is the author of the New York Times bestselling
book, ‘Atomic Habits.’
James is
true to his name (Clear) in that he makes it explicitly clear that we can radically
change our lives for good by changing our daily habits even in atomic measures.
He argues that
a radical change doesn’t necessarily require superhuman efforts. Clear says
that small, meaningful changes over time are all we need to experience quantum
leap in our lives, individually and collectively.
He also
explains that our outcomes are the net results of our habits; that is, whatever
is left when our bad habits are subtracted from the good ones, in all aspects
of our lives. Therefore, our financial worth is the net result of our earning
and spending habits. Our health and vitality is a function of how we live, eat,
sleep, exercise and even work, on a day-to-day basis.
Without a
doubt, who you are, is determined by what you repeatedly do. So if you are
among the elite few who have learned to live right most of the time, then
thumbs up!
However, if
like most people, you need a change in certain areas of living; James
emphatically asserts that there is unmitigated assurance for you or anyone who
is determined to make necessary improvements to rise higher in life. Opportunity
for growth is always there, if we are committed to life-long evolution.
And Stephen
Guise, the author of Mini-habit also adds his two cents worth: “When you add good habits into your life, it
illuminates another possible path, restores your confidence, and gives you
hope."
Now let’s go
deep into James Clear’s laws of change:
According to
James, if you find yourself in a rut and unable to form a critical habit which you
need to get to the next level in your game, he asserts that the problem is not
you but your approach.
And to make
that clear, he gives us an illustration of the trick on how human behaviour
works and how good habits are formed.
The Habit Loop as described by James Clear:
“If a behavior is insufficient in any
of the (following) four stages, it will not become a habit.
Eliminate the
CUE and your habit will never start.
Reduce
the CRAVING and you won’t experience enough
motivation to act.
Make the behavior DIFFICULT and you won’t be able to do it.
And if the reward
fails to SATISFY your desire, then you’ll have no reason to do it
again in the future.
Without the first three steps, a behavior will not occur. Without all four, a behavior will not be repeated.
In summary, the cue triggers a
craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies
the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue. Together, these
four steps form a neurological feedback loop—cue, craving, response, reward; cue,
craving, response, reward—that ultimately allows you to create automatic
habits.
This
cycle is known as the habit loop.”
How to Form a Good Habit
“To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then act
out the new behavior.” Maxwell Maltz
To make a
good behaviour into a habit, James gives these four practical tips: one, make
it obvious, two, make it attractive, three, make it easy and finally, make it
satisfying.
Now let’s
analyze the tips (though, Clear calls them laws) a little bit further in short
points:
Make It Obvious
Write down
your current habits to become aware of them.
Make the
cues of good habits obvious and visible; redesign your environment
Make It Attractive
Join a
group/club where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.
Do something
you enjoy shortly before a new habit; create a routine.
Make It Easy
Think small;
start tiny.
Redesign
your environment to make future actions easier.
Use the ‘Two-Minute
Rule’; scale down your habits until they can be done in two minutes or less.
Make It Satisfying
Celebrate: give
yourself an immediate reward when you complete your habit.
Finally, if
you want to live better, you need more good habits. And to form them new, one
habit at a time, follow the earlier mentioned, very simple rules: make it
obvious; make it attractive; make it easy, and make it satisfying.
This is all you
need to make a change for good. But you must resolve to do it now because
what’s easy to do is even easier not to do.
