Make it Super Simple!
Recently, I have been thinking about how to build good habits and how to release habits that are not good for me. I know that the key to progress is to hone one’s habits but in reality, I was struggling. Have you ever decided that you are going to change something about your life and set a goal and then somehow never get there? I thought that setting a big goal was enough, but I always start off well and then miss a few days, and then it all falls by the wayside. Not only is nothing achieved but there is also the sense of failure that goes with it, which is not good for personal wellbeing or quieting the little voice in our heads that loves to tell us how useless we are. This has been genuinely bothering me and it occurred to me that there must be a better way. Thankfully, there is!
The key to creating good habits is actually frighteningly simple and the root of the problem is that we go too big. Don’t get me wrong – a big, scary audacious goal is a wonderful thing – but to focus only on that is likely to get you nowhere. That big goal is only the start of the process – it sets your direction. The key is to then work backward and to form a clear plan of how you want to get there, step-by-step
and then let the big goal go, it is there in the background but not your focus. Now you find you have a starting point. This is great and you feel good and you start but how many times have you done this and found that you still can’t achieve what you want to?
After doing some research, I realised that the problem was that even my first steps were just too big for me to gain any momentum. I needed to make it easier. I had three goals. The first was to read more. As a teacher, we generally don’t have time to read for leisure or personal learning but it is important. Remember, we are not just our job. The second came about as I realised I was atrophying from the ankles up and could no longer lift my foot to touch my chin. I wanted to regain my youthful flexibility. The third was to actually save some money. Living paycheck-to-paycheck is a stressful experience as I found out when needing a tooth to be repaired – probably due to grinding my teeth from the stress of having no ready cash! Three goals was an ambitious undertaking, but I felt that armed with new information, they were achievable.
Making it easy means removing all barriers and starting super small. I analysed my first steps for each goal and began to remove barriers and lower the pressure I put on myself in terms of the time required to achieve each step.
I also used the concept of Habit Stacking. This is when you take something you do anyhow and add to it little- by-little. This looks like, “When I have done X, I will do Y.” For reading more, I put a book on my pillow and told myself, “When I get into bed I will read two pages.” For flexibility, I realised that the barrier to me doing some yoga in the mornings was the wall between my bedroom and my yoga mat. I put the yoga mat at the end of my bed and told myself, “When I get out of bed, I will roll my mat out and stand on it.” For money, I realised that as I could see and access my savings account, it was too easy to take money out. I applied the inverse of making it easy, which is to make
it more difficult. I opened an account with another bank and put a block on being able to take money out. I then set up a regular direct deposit from my current account.
To me, this seemed too simple and the amount of time required to actually do each action was too small to actually make a difference. However, amazingly, it has worked and I am able to complete each action consistently. I am well on track with all three habits, something I have never achieved before. The miracle is that over the last four weeks I have read a book and a half. I now do 30 minutes or more of yoga
each morning – I don’t just stand on the mat! I actually do something and it sets me up for the day. I also have a slowly growing savings account.
The upshot is that I feel good and have a positive outlook and this impacts my day-to-day life. I have energy in the classroom and for my coaching clients. I am less stressed, more purposeful and more organised in general. I also feel as though I am turning into the person that I need to become to achieve those big, audacious goals. Try it – go super small and make it easy! You might be pleasantly surprised by the results!