Insights on Changing Habits (Based on an e-book by James Clear)

I have the habit of reading up interesting blogs and specifically around self development. This week, I happened to come across a website by James Clear and as soon as I got into his website, I was directed to download a couple of free e-books. I downloaded one around Habits and it turned out to be one of the best posts that I have ever read about Habit change. I would strongly urge anybody interested in Habit Change to check his website (www.jamesclear.com) and read the e-book around transforming habits. For others though, hope you find my commentary and learnings from the book, useful.

James starts off by stressing on the importance of habits and routines as opposed to transformational change and focus on results that most of us obsess with. As opposed to the usual concepts of will power and motivation as fundamental cornerstone to change, James points to a 3 step (3Rs) process:

• Reminder
• Routine
• Reward

While this sounds counter-intuitive, when I reflected on some of the key changes that I have implemented (Eg: Fitness), having a clear reminder and following through as a routine has been more beneficial than my earlier approach of focusing on results and willpower (It has almost always flagged!). 

The other important point that James stresses is to start with small goals and get to achieving consistency as opposed to time bound and goal based approach. Again, this set me thinking as I have always struggled with consistency and have always been obsessed with pushing my limits. To be honest, after biking for 25 miles, I have only biked one more time in the last one week (covered around 10 miles) as I wanted to set aside sufficient time to push myself. Similarly, I have been jogging only once a week (3-4 miles with a friend) and procrastinating on other days saying to myself that anything less is not good enough. After reading this. am convinced to just jog/bike as often as possible (Even a few miles is fine) as cumulatively, this will strengthen the habit in the long run and lead to better and bigger benefits. 

To keep at the 3Rs approach, James stresses on envisaging a Habit as an Identity based Habit. For example, as opposed to focusing on weight loss as a goal, it is better to inculcate the thought that we are the type of person who works out/moves a lot. For beginners, it makes sense to buy a pedometer and just focus on taking more steps each day, while strengthening the identity of being somebody who moves more each day. This is an area that am going to focus on and build my habits around the type of identity/person that I want to become. It was a fantastic insight as more often than not, the identity that we develop automatically pushes us to act on certain things without relying on external motivation or additional willpower. 

James covers other key pointers as well, but to me, the top insights, illustrated above, is enough to make this e-book a Must Read! Now, over to Consistent and Continuous Action!

My Group Biking Experience

Last month, I decided to join groups that will push me to improve my fitness level, be it hiking or biking. I have been riding my hybrid bike for the last several months but it has always been short trips of 3-4 miles. I always knew that there are group biking sessions conducted by Performance Bicycle store in my area that accommodate beginners as well but I have always procrastinated on it as I felt that i was not there in terms of my fitness yet. This week though, I thought that I will just try it out, and even if I fall behind, it is fine and that my objective should be to complete the ride.

Woke up at 7 am. Did some stretching and then headed to the Performance Bicycle store that was 4 miles away. It felt fantastic to drive in Pleasanton given the phenomenal weather (25 degrees or so) and I hardly broke a sweat in reaching the place. I checked in and found that there were a total of 5 guys apart from me and all of them were semi-professionals. They informed me that it will be a 15 mile trip and that we will cover a few hills nearby but nothing really strenuous. I was totally kicked and reminded myself that as long as I stick with the group, I can push myself and get this done.

We started off and the initial 20 odd minutes went fine. We drove at a reasonable pace and there was not much breeze either. I just kept chanting to myself ' Am part of the Biking Pack' like a 100 times and was grinning ear to ear as I kept riding and thought to myself 'this was not as difficult as I thought it would be'. Soon, we reached close to a hill and the wind really started to pick up. I soon found myself behind and however much I pedaled, it felt that the bike just would not move forward fast enough. Soon enough, the entire pack went ahead and I could not even sight them in front of me.

The wind keep blowing and soon enough I felt like my energy was spent with every additional pedal I took. My legs started paining like hell and soon, I went from tired to exhausted. As I stopped and took a quick gulp of water, my mind went like 'This was way too soon - You just are not ready enough to be doing this as part of a group. Should u just quit? God knows how far up this hill is?' The other part of me went like 'No way u can quit -The whole objective was to complete this ride - Just keep pushing yourself. Don't worry about the group waiting - Just focus on taking one step at a time'. I decided to obey this thought and started chanting ' You can totally do this' over and over again and slowly inch by inch, pushed myself for what seemed like an eternity till I spotted the group ahead waiting for me. The climb was done and as I went up to them, they were pretty encouraging and brushed aside my apology of keeping them waiting for me.

I thought I was pretty drained out but what happened next was an incredible experience. We started the downhill ride and it went quickly from fast to ridiculously fast. The wind hit my face and I felt an incredible rush of adrenaline. In no time, the smile was back in my face and I felt totally refreshed. We continued like this for the next 15 odd minutes and I was thrilled to keep pace with the group albeit on a flat track. Soon enough, the next hill came up and I found myself left behind pretty quickly.

But by now, I had given up thoughts of quitting and pushed myself going on (pretty slowly though - The wind and the incline made the ride killing). I continued chanting 'You can totally do this' again and again and after what seemed like a long time, I again caught sight of the group waiting for me. They gave me 'High Fives' once i reached and commented that the downhill would make the experience totally worth it. And worth it, it was! It was one of the most blissful and incredible experience as we came down like the wind and once again I found myself totally refreshed and energetic.

We continued for some more time and the 3rd hill came along. This was much smaller and we got this done quickly and soon we headed back to the biking center. As we completed the ride, I was thrilled as I realized that I had achieved what I set out to do even though it was way more difficult than what I had imagined. It was incredible to have such a supportive group and I thanked each member of the group for their guidance (Performance Bicycle - Thank You!).

It was an incredible experience and even though I am nowhere close to the fitness levels of this biking group (and Bikers in general), am proud to have overcome my feeling of inadequacy and to have taken the all important first step. Now it is up to me to keep continuing this, keep pushing myself, keep overcoming the limitations that my mind keeps reminding me and hopefully one day, I can call myself a biker!