Your Roadmap to Building Sustainable Habits

The following blog is the fourth of a 7-part series on “Habits” from Darren Bosch here at DeliberateU. 

Over the past couple of weeks, we have spent some time looking at how habits shape our lives, even form our spiritual character. Last week, we dabbled in Charles Duhigg’s “habit loop”—an easy way of disassembling and understanding behaviours. 

Now, it’s time to roll up your shirt sleeves. We’re going to get practical and dig into how to make habits actually stick… ‘cause gumption or determination only gets you so far. Our rhythms must be planned and set up for success so that consistency can be realized.

Industry experts who’ve tested this stuff have found the following key ingredients... Are you ready?

1. START SMALL

That’s right, small…as in very small. No this isn’t child-play. It’s brain wiring. One of the hardest things to muster up when changing our patterns is motivation. Here at DeliberateU, I often wish I had as much sheer willpower as Chip… or some of you. But research shows that willpower is like building muscle. You have to start small. It grows by getting stretched, and it gets fatigued as you use it. Motivation, like muscle mass, grows as you gradually increase resistance and allow rest in between.

Instead of wringing out every last bit of your willpower, choose a habit that you can’t say no to. Something so easy it requires very little motivation or none at all. For example, rather than taking half an hour every morning to ground yourself, take ten minutes. Rather than starting with fifty “burpees”, start with fifteen. Start with one glass of water a day, not six. If you keep your lifestyle changes bite-sized, they will be easier to carry through and your brain’s reward will come sooner, closing the habit loop and building the new habit into your automatic behaviours. Make it easy enough initially that you can get it done without copious amounts of naturally-born motivation. Because, hey, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”! Start small.

2. BUILD SLOWLY.

Fast is slow and slow is fast. Increase your habit slowly. Your willpower will automatically get stronger as you’re building up. Don’t short-circuit the way your brain is wired. 

3. CHUNK IT DOWN

If you’re a leader or business owner, you’re probably a natural go-getter. Your type-A nature loves to take on a more herculean task. You see big and want to act big. Newsflash: you and I are not the giants we might think we are. Besides, there’s an easier way. 

As you’re upping the ante on your habits, adding more time and effort every day, your small habit could very quickly become a big one—one that could be difficult to keep up with. Rather than biting off more than you can chew, break your new habits down into chunks. For example, if you’re working on adding a few minutes every day to reach your goal of spending half an hour on deliberate reflection, section it off. Spend fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes before bed. Your goal, ultimately, is to be able to reach 30 minutes. Make it easy for yourself. 

4. PLAN FOR WHEN YOU MESS UP

Remember I said I wished I had my partner Chip’s motivation? Well, even top performers like Chip get off track, drop the ball sometimes, or stuff just happens. The difference is that they get back on track as quickly as possible.

So, don’t take too much time getting back in the saddle. Expect to fail at times. Failure is inevitable. Research shows that missing a habit once has no measurable impact on your long-term success. Rather than trying to be perfect, abandon your all-or-nothing mentality. Plan for when you’ll miss a day or two. Focus your aim on never missing a habit twice in a row. 

5. A SUSTAINABLE PACE

Being patient is probably the most critical skill of all in building habits. You can make incredible progress if you are consistent and patient. Last I checked, any change takes patience – so map out a sustainable pace.

Remember, starting new habits should feel easy – it’s all about how you set up for success. Though it might feel too simple at the start, once you build consistency, you will increase your habit and it will get hard enough quickly. It always does.

Changing and building helpful habits is attainable! It’s all in how we “set ourselves up for success”. A more successful, sustainable system relies on more than just hard-core grit. You’ve got this! As a kickstart to your motivation, have a quick watch of the video below. It’s a great little summary of the popular book, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. 

Deliberate Application:

1. Why might some of your past initiatives or new rhythms have not worked out for you?
2. What’s one new habit you’d like to start this month – with this new system?
3. Who are you going to share your new habit with, to develop some accountability and encouragement?

Stay tuned for next week, we will look at typical blind spots in building new habits… and what often gets in the way to make habits stick. ‘Till then.