8-Life Changing Lessons From Atomic Habits

Welcome to the Motivated Mind, where I challenge you to expand your perspective on how to achieve a successful life through motivational lessons, reflections and interviews with other motivated minds. Welcome back to the Motivated Mind, a top 100 health podcast thanks to each of you. This is episode 263 and I'm your host Scott Lynch. Thanks so much for listening. If I've brought you any value, please be sure to leave a review and hit that subscribe or follow button. Don't be a stranger, shoot me a DM on Instagram or Facebook and let me know what you want to hear more of and please be sure to share the podcast. You can learn all the skills in the world, math, business, writing, but the right mindset will always trump them all. It's the great unlock to all other skills. Success and happiness come down to one single component and that's mindset. In order to achieve our goals in life, our mindset needs to match those aspirations and this is exactly what I pack into my free weekly newsletter. As a free subscriber, you receive the mastering your mindset newsletter once per week where I break down step by step processes to master your mindset and practical growth tips. If you haven't subscribed but you enjoy the content I drop on this podcast, then you're missing out. Click the link in the show notes to subscribe for free to the mastering your mindset newsletter. Want to make a podcast? Spotify's got a platform that lets you make one super easily, then distribute it everywhere and even earn money all in one place for free. It's called Spotify for podcasters and here's how it works. Spotify for podcasters lets you record an edit podcast right from your phone or computer. So no matter what your setup is like, you can start creating today. Then you can distribute your podcasts to Spotify and everywhere else podcasts are heard. Video podcasts are also available on Spotify. With Spotify for podcasters, you can earn money in a variety of ways, including ads and podcast subscriptions, and best of all, it's totally free with no catch. Ever since I discovered Spotify for podcasters, I feel like it's allowed me to be more creative because I've been able to simplify the admin aspect of my podcast and focus on developing more valuable and creative content. I highly recommend you give it a try. Download the Spotify for podcasters app or go to www.spodify.com/podcasters to get started. All habits can have a powerful impact on our daily lives. The challenge is that we don't see the impact from these habits real time. We only see the results of our habits after a while. This delay in positive change can mean most of us become discouraged. However, it's important that we focus on our current trajectory rather than our current results. Here are my notes on ideas and concepts I found interesting from the number one New York Times bestseller book, Atomic Habits. So what are these life changing habits and concepts? How can we implement them with ease into our lives for maximum return? Number one, the power of compounding. All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. Habits are the compound interest of self improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of our habits multiply as we repeat them. They seem to make little difference on any given day. And yet, the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It's only when we look back to five or even ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones become very apparent. Let's say we can just get one percent better each day. We'd end up with results nearly 37 times better after one year. Now, on the flip side, if we get one percent worse each day for one year, we'll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more. It doesn't matter how successful or unsuccessful we are right now. What matters is whether our habits are putting us on the right path toward success. We should be far more concerned with our current trajectory than with our current results. Our outcomes are a lagging measure of our habits. Our net worth is a lagging measure of our financial habits. Our weight is a lagging measure of our eating habits. Our knowledge is a lagging measure of our learning habits. Our clutter is a lagging measure of our cleaning habits. We get what we repeat. Number two, goals versus systems. Goals are good for setting a direction. But systems are best for making progress. A few problems arise when we spend too much time thinking about our goals and not enough time designing our systems. The first problem, winners and losers have the same goals. Every candidate wants to get the job. Every Olympian wants to get a gold medal. It's not the goal that determines the winner. It's the system. It's only when we implement a system of continuous small improvements that we achieve a different outcome. Two, achieving a goal is only a momentary change. Imagine your home, apartment or room is messy and you set a goal to clean it. And let's say you achieve that goal. You now have a clean home apartment or room for now. Because if you maintain the same sloppy pack rat habits that led to a messy room in the first place, soon you'll be looking at a new pile of clutter and hoping for another burst of motivation. In other words, we're left chasing the same outcome because we never changed the system behind it. Achieving a goal only changes our life for the moment. What we really need to change are the systems that cause those results. When we solve problems at the results level, we only solve them temporarily. In order to improve for good, we need to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves. Three goals restrict our happiness. We all make a dangerous assumption. Once I reach my goal, then I'll be happy. The problem with a goal's first mentality is that we're continually putting happiness off until the next milestone. And I've been guilty of this trap many, many times. Those create an either or conflict, either we achieve our goal and we're successful or we fail and we are a disappointment. We mentally box ourselves into a narrow version of happiness. When we fall in love with the process, rather than the product, we don't have to wait to give ourselves permission to be happy. Now, I want to be clear, none of this is to say that goals are useless. Goals are good for planning our progress and systems are good for actually making progress. Number three, change your identity. Good habits can make rational sense, but if they conflict with our identity, we will fail to put them into action. No single instance will transform our beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of our new identity. The key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first. Our current behaviors are simply a reflection of our current identity. What we do now is a mirror image of the type of person we believe that we are, either consciously or subconsciously. To change our behaviors for good, we need to start believing new things. things about ourselves. We need to build identity-based habits. Let's for a moment look at how we typically set goals. We might start by saying I want to lose weight or I want to get stronger. And if we're lucky, someone might say that's great, but you should be more specific. So then we say something like I want to lose 20 pounds or I want to squat 300 pounds. However, these goals are centered around outcomes. Not identity. What we need to understand is that there are three levels where change can occur. You can imagine them like layers of an onion. The first layer is changing our outcomes. This level is about changing our results. Losing weight, publishing a book, winning a championship. Most of the goals we set are associated with this level of change. The second layer is changing our process. This level is about changing our habits and systems. Things like implementing a new routine at the gym, decluttering our desk for better workflow, developing a meditation practice. Most of the habits we build are associated with this level. The third and deepest layer is changing our identity. This level is about changing our beliefs. Our workflows or our worldview, our self-image, our judgments about ourselves and others. Most of the beliefs, assumptions and bias we hold are associated with this level. Outcomes are about what we get. Processes are about what we do. Identity is about what we believe. We need to start by focusing on who we wish to become. Number four, the habit loop. The task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time. Habits are the compound interests of self-development. There are five primary ways that a new habit can be triggered. Q1, time is perhaps the most common way to trigger a new habit. For example, common morning habits. Waking up in the morning usually triggers a cascade of habits. Go to the bathroom, take a shower, brush our teeth, get dressed, make a cup of coffee, etc. Time-based cues can also be used to stick with routines over and over again. For example, every Sunday, I write and record this podcast along with writing my newsletter. Every Wednesday, I write and record this podcast. All that matters is that I stick to that schedule. The time triggers the habit loop. Q2, location. If you have ever walked into your kitchen and noticed a plate of cookies on the counter and eaten them just because they are there in front of you, then you understand the power of location on our behavior. Our habits and behaviors are simply a response to the environment that surrounds us. Q3, preceding events. Many habits are a response to something else that happens in our lives. For example, our phone vibrates, so we pick it up to check our latest text message. The little notification bell lights up on Facebook, so we click it to see what it signals. I have used a preceding event to stick with a daily gratitude habit. Each night, when I sit down to eat dinner with my wife, we both share at least one win for the day. Q4, emotional state. This is a common Q for bad habits. For example, we may have a habit of eating when we feel depressed or we may default to online shopping when we feel bored. The emotional state of depression or boredom, our triggers for these negative habits. For example, I continually practice identifying when I am holding tension in my body and experiencing stress. When I do notice that I am feeling particularly stressed or anxious, I will use this emotional state to keep breathing exercises. Q5, other people. The people we surround ourselves with can play a role in our habits and behaviors. One study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that if your friend becomes obese, then your risk of obesity increases by 57%. Even if your friend lives hundreds of miles away, the best way to make use of this information is to surround ourselves with people who have the habits we want to have ourselves. No matter what we choose for our new habit, there is one important thing to understand. The key to choosing a successful Q is to pick a trigger that is very specific and immediately actionable. Q5, make it obvious. Until we make the unconscious conscious, it will direct our lives. And because of this, we call it fate. We underestimate how much our brain and bodies can do without thinking. Over time, the cues that spark our habits become so common that they are essentially invisible. For example, the plate of cookies on the kitchen counter, the remote control next to the couch, the phone in our pocket. Our response to these cues are so deeply encoded that it may feel like the urge to act comes from nowhere. Because of this, we must begin the process of behavior change with awareness. One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we're actually doing. And to do this, we can implement what's called a habit scorecard. Make a list of your daily habits. If it is a good habit, write a plus sign next to it. If it is a bad habit, write a subtraction sign next to it. If it is a neutral habit, write an equal sign next to it. For example, take up equals turn off alarm equals check my phone subtraction take a shower plus making it obvious allows us to build better habits. Number six, the law of least effort in the two minute rule. When deciding between two similar options, people will naturally gravitate towards the option that requires the least amount of work. If we can make our good habits more convenient, we'll be more likely to follow through on them. The less friction we face, the easier it is for our stronger self to emerge. Trying to pump up our motivation to stick with a hard habit is like trying to force water through a bent hose. You can do it, but it requires a lot of effort and increases the tension in our lives. Making our habits simple and easy is like removing that bend in the hose. Rather than trying to overcome the friction in our lives, we reduce it. In practice, it doesn't really matter how long it takes for a habit to become automatic. What matters is that we take the actions we need to take to make progress. If we want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. So how do we do that? We implement the two minute rule. When we start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do. Yes, two minutes, by mastering the first two minutes of the smallest version of the behavior, then advance to an intermediate step and repeat the process, focusing on just the first two minutes and mastering that stage before moving on to the next level. Eventually, we end up with the habit we had originally hoped to build while still keeping our focus where it should be on the first two minutes of the behavior. Nearly any habit can be scaled down into a two minute version. For example, read before bed each night becomes read one page. Do 30 minutes of yoga becomes take out my yoga mat. Study for class becomes open my notes. Build the laundry becomes fold one pair of socks. Run three miles becomes tie my running shoes. The idea is to make our habits as easy as possible to start. Number seven, how to make a habit irresistible. While it is not possible to transform every habit into a super normal stimulus, we can make any habit more enticing. It is the the anticipatory. patient of a reward, not the fulfillment of it that gets us to take action. The key takeaway is this, dopamine is released not only when we experience pleasure, but also when we anticipate it. Gambling addicts have a dopamine spike right before they place a bet. Not after they win, cocaine addicts get a surge of dopamine when they see the powder, not after they take it. We need to make our habits attractive because it is the expectation of a rewarding experience that motivates us to act in the first place. This is where a strategy known as temptation bundling comes into play. Temptation bundling works by linking an action we want to do with an action we need to do. For example, let's say you want to hear about the latest celebrity gossip, but you need to get in shape using temptation bundling. You could only read the tabloids and watch reality shows at the gym. Number eight, the Goldilocks rule. The human brain loves a challenge, but only if it is within an optimal zone of difficulty. For example, if you love, let's say tennis and try to play a serious match against a four year old, you will quickly become bored because it's too easy and you win every point. On the flip side, if you play a professional tennis player like Serena Williams, you will quickly lose motivation because the match is too difficult. Now let's consider playing tennis against someone who is our equal. As the game progresses, we win a few points and we lose a few. We have a good chance of winning, but only if we really try our focus narrows, distractions fade away and we find ourselves fully invested in the task at hand. This is a challenge of just manageable difficulty, and it is a prime example of the Goldilocks rule. The Goldilocks rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. In other words, not too hard, not too easy, just right. This means that we experience just enough victories to keep us motivated and just enough mistakes to keep us working hard. So to recap, number one, the power of compounding. Habits are the compound interests of self-improvement. What matters is whether our habits are putting us on the path towards success. Number two, goals for systems. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. Goals are good for planning our progress. In systems, our good for actually making progress. Good habits can make rational sense, but if they conflict with our identity, we will fail to pull them into action. To change our behavior for good, we need to start believing new things about ourselves. And the third layer, the deepest layer, is changing our identity. Q1, time, Q2, location, Q3, proceeding events, Q4, emotional state, Q5, other people. No matter what Q we choose for our new habit, there is one important thing to understand. Number five, make it obvious. Until we make the unconscious conscious, it will direct our lives and we call it fate. We underestimate how much our brains and bodies can do without thinking. And because of this, we must begin the process of behavior change with awareness. One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing. To do this, we can implement a habit scorecard. Number six, the law of least effort and the two minute rule. If we want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition. Not perfection. Start by mastering the first two minutes of the smallest version of the behavior. Then advance to an intermediate step and repeat the process. And bundling works by linking an action we want to do with an action we need to do. Humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. This week's shout out is by Junet who sent me a DM on Instagram. I'm currently listening to your podcast. I really enjoy the information you put out. I find it very valuable and helpful. Thanks for putting out so many podcasts that help people like me become their best selves. Your advice on self-discovery, mindset shifts, and success tips could not have come at a better time in my life. I appreciate your work, and I'm very grateful to have stumbled upon it during my podcast search on Spotify. For an opportunity to be next week's shout out, please leave an honest review on the podcast. Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram. Who knows? You just might be the next shout out. Thanks for listening to the Motivated Mine with your host Scott Lynch. I hope you enjoyed my deep dive into eight life changing lessons from Atomic Habits. If you enjoyed this episode, and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share with others post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. To catch all the latest from me, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok @motivatedscott. Don't forget to join me every Monday and Thursday for new episodes. I love you all. And thanks so much for listening. The Motivated Mine is a legacy division.