Spoiler alert. Your 2023 New Year’s resolutions are only as good as your habits. As the saying goes: you are what you repeatedly do. James Clear understood this and aggregated a lifetime of scientific literature on habits so we don’t have to.
The takeaways a person could glean from his book, Atomic Habits, are endless; but here are my top 3
1. Be the habit
“Habits shape your identity (and vice versa).”
In other words, habits are more likely to Stick if they become part of how you see yourself. So, for your New Year’s resolutions , state boldly how each resolution fits in with who you want to be. For example, ” I am a runner, I am not a nail biter, I am a powerlifter.” Rather than simply saying, “I will run, not bite my nails and lift in 2023.” By tethering a habit to your identity, you are in essence, reinforcing your sense of self by doing that habit. In turn, that identity will manifest itself by committing to the habits it has associated itself with. The two are symbiotic.
2. Design your environment
“Motivation is overrated; environment often matters more.”
Have you ever tried to checkout on your favourite food delivery app and boom, a banner pops up and suddenly you have added loaded fries, spicy nachos and grilled halloumi to your order? This is an (all too familiar) example of environment design. In this case, it’s virtual but it remains a potent illustration of how our environment can nudge us into action. Committing to your New Year’s resolutions are no different. Try leaving your running shoes by the front door or not-so-subtly positioning a healthy cookbook on your dinner table. These cues will give you a nudge to execute that habit when your motivation is lacking. The more cues you can plant in your environment, the better chance you have of making a habit stick. It would also help if the cue is next to one of your pre-existing habits. For example, let’s say you want to floss. How about positioning the floss next to your toothbrush? That way you stack the habit you are trying to adopt with a pre-existing habit (I hope). “Habit stacking” is like environment design on steroids; serving not only as a visual cue but by exploiting your readiness to do one habit to help commit to another habit.
3. Do the simplest things first
So you see yourself as a runner, you have left you running shoes by the door, you have tried habit stacking; but despite all your best efforts, you just can’t seem to make it happen. You dread Feeling tired, you’re embarrassed by how you might be perceived and you’re not seeing the gains that you expected. So how do you overcome that block?
Do the simplest thing First. This can be as mundane as putting on your running shoes and tying your shoelaces. Forget the cake, just buy the flour and the sugar first. Commit to tying your shoelaces and you will commit to the run.
This psychological trick has disproportionately helped me with committing to daily Jiu Jitsu training. I am not an organised guy and was genuinely discouraged from training Jiu Jitsu due to a (literal) laundry list of kit requirements for the sport. Regardless, by getting into the habit of packing my bag the night before, it became a lot easier to put in the hours on the mats.
