“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. They are the foundation of mastery.” – James Clear
“I wish my kid would practice more on his own,” said one mom to me at a recent talk. “He could be so much better if he applied himself.”
“I hear you,” said her friend. “If he spent as much time practicing as he does playing video games he could be amazing.”
Sound familiar? Do you have children, or athletes on your team, that are really struggling to get better because their habits and application today have very little correlation with their long term goals? Heck, couldn’t we all use a few more good habits in our lives, and a few less bad ones (I write as I swallow my third Vienna Finger of the day). I think the answer to that is yes, we could all benefit, especially our young athletes.
Today I want to cover how we can help those around us, and ourselves, build better habits and break a few bad ones, so I go straight to the source, James Clear. James is the internationally bestselling author of Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. This book has sold over five million copies since its release in 2018, and that is because it is well written, practical, and Clear is a great story teller. I was lucky enough to meet him in 2015 and have kept in touch since, and this week we re-released our 2018 podcast with him about the book. In listening to it again, I realized this was such gold it needed to become a blog post. Here are a few highly useful ideas we spoke about in 2018 that are even more relevant today, and will be useful for the young athletes in your lives:
“Results are the lagging measure of your habits! You get what you repeat.”
Eating a salad for lunch vs eating a burger and fries is no big deal in the short term, says Clear. You do not notice it in the moment or on the day, but over time you realize how much your bad habits cost you and your good habits earn you. It is the same in sports. If you choose not to work hard or focus today, it’s not that big a deal in the long run, but compounded over time the bad days add up, and those athletes who link together good days will surpass you.
Our society is very outcome driven, especially on social media where we share our highlights but never our struggles. We are inundated with results all the time and we overvalue the results while we tend to undervalue the process. Yet winners and losers often have the same goals, but very different outcomes. In other words, says Clear, goals are necessary but not sufficient. Achieving a goal only changes your life for a moment, but if you don’t change the bad habits you will be right back where you started eventually.
“Habits matter for both external and internal results. “
The visible results of both good and poor habits are evident, but those external items are only half the battle. Internally, every action you take is a vote for the type of person you want to be says Clear. The votes add up over time, and you gain evidence about the type of person you are becoming. This does not simply alter your results; it changes your identity. Proper habits give you more belief in the person you are becoming, and causes you to not just resist the bad things, but say “I am the type of person who exercises every day/eats well/sleeps well/is a great teammate.”
“We do not rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.”
Successful people are outcome aware, but purpose and process driven, and nothing drives the process better than great systems. Very often, says Clear, we think we need to change our outcomes, but what really needs to change are the habits (how you build the system) and the system (the process of achieving those results.) Another word for systems could be culture, which Clear calls “the shared habits of the group.” When we all value the same positive habits and behaviors, then you live and work in an environment where it is easier to make the right choices and ignore the wrong ones. Or in other words, bad habits repeat themselves not because you want them to happen, but because you have a bad system around them. Create systems that reinforce the good!
“The 4 Laws of Behavior Change.”
So how do we go about building good habits and breaking bad ones. We follow what Clear calls the Four Laws. Habits have 4 parts:
- Cue: something that triggers a behavior. If we want to develop a good habit, make your cues obvious so they will prompt you to act. Chop the fruit or veggies ahead of time and put them in the front and center of the fridge so you grab them instead of a high sugar bar. Put your running shoes next to your bed and wear your gear so you can hop out of bed and run instead of finding excuses not to. I tend to put my mountain bike on my car hours ahead of when I am going to ride so on those days where I try and talk myself out of it, I can say “well it’s all ready to go so let’s just do it.”
- Craving: something that makes a desired behavior more attractive. This is where team culture comes in. It is easier to do the right thing when everyone else is doing the right thing. A parent might reinforce behavior by saying “you get to play video games for every minute you exercise/practice/do chores.” In a team setting, the social environment really matters, and good culture makes it uncomfortable NOT to do the desired behaviors.
- Response: make it easy and as convenient as possible to do the things you want to do, and avoid the things you don’t. Eating too much ice cream? Don’t put it front and center of your freezer. Duct tape it shut and shove it in the way back under other stuff. When you reduce the friction to good choices, you are more likely to make better choices. In other words, design a system that makes the good behavior convenient.
- Reward: Make it satisfying to do something right. This does not mean effusive or false praise from a parent or coach, but it does mean catch someone being good. Clear calls this the Cardinal rule of behavior change: “Behaviors that are immediately rewarded get repeated, behaviors that are immediately punished get avoided” I am not advocating physical punishment here as much as I am advocating coaches and parents being very intentional to catch people being good and to highlight the right behaviors.
If you want to break a bad habit, simply do the opposite.
Reduce exposure to the cues that set you off on the wrong path, and make it unattractive to behave that way (I am putting away the Vienna Fingers in the back of the cabinet behind the prunes and taping them shut). Make it hard to complete the bad habits, and make it unsatisfying if you do (this is hard with Vienna Fingers but I am trying). Don’t leave the video game equipment out on the table, but put it away. Don’t put the beer front and center, stick it in the back of the fridge. Better yet, don’t but it in the first place and save yourself from all those agonizing decisions every night.
Finally, Clear suggest that every few months we reflect and review. Celebrate your wins by asking yourself “what went well?” Acknowledge your losses by asking “what needs work still?” And come up with your next plan by asking “where do I go from here?” Then do it all over.
We could all use a few more good habits in our lives, and a few less poor ones, especially our athletes. Whether it is to train more, eat better, sleep soundly, or become an inner game warrior, these ideas above will help you become a better version of yourself, excel at the things you love to do, and help others do the same. Good luck.
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