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!