682: EP6: Connecting the Dots - Building Habits that stick
Jan 24, 2024
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This podcast explores building habits that stick and emphasizes the importance of systems over goals. They discuss how babies learn to walk and apply the concept of repetition without repetition. The power of fresh starts and moments of renewal is highlighted, along with Google's use of fresh start moments in behavior change. The challenges and opportunities of transitioning into a new role are discussed, as well as the process of untangling unwanted habits and raising awareness through 'pointing and calling'.
Building systems and daily habits are more effective than just setting goals.
Motivation, ability, and prompts are key factors in habit formation.
Flexible habits and progress monitoring lead to more consistent behavior and goal attainment.
Deep dives
Building Systems vs Setting Goals
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, emphasizes the importance of focusing on building systems rather than just setting goals. He explains that goals are not enough to produce lasting change, and that the key is to align your desired outcomes with your daily habits. Clear suggests defining a system as the collection of daily habits that lead you toward a specific goal. By prioritizing the system and consistently following the habits, success becomes more sustainable and realistic.
Motivation, Ability, and Prompt in Habit Formation
BJ Fogg, director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford, introduces the concept of MAP (Motivation, Ability, and Prompt) in habit formation. Fogg explains that motivation and ability work together as teammates, with high motivation allowing for more difficult behaviors and high ability making behaviors easier to do. He suggests that to create lasting habits, it's important to make the behavior as easy as possible, so that even low motivation levels won't hinder the habit formation. Fogg also highlights the importance of using prompts, which can be existing routines or anchors, to remind and reinforce the new habit.
Flexible Habits and Progress Monitoring
Katie Milkman, professor at Wharton and author of How to Change, discusses the benefits of flexible habits and progress monitoring. She explains that rigid habits can lack resilience and often lead to giving up if the routine is disrupted. Instead, allowing for flexibility in habits and routines can result in more robust and consistent behavior. Milkman also emphasizes the power of progress monitoring, suggesting that looking back at what has already been achieved can increase commitment and motivation, while looking ahead at what is still to be accomplished can encourage progress and drive goal attainment.
Accountability and the Daily Question Process
Marshall Goldsmith, a renowned leadership coach, promotes the daily question process as a powerful technique for self-accountability and behavior change. This process involves answering a series of questions related to specific areas of improvement on a daily basis. Goldsmith highlights that the accountability component, such as having someone call and listen to the answers, significantly increases the likelihood of consistency and positive change. He emphasizes the importance of humility and recognizing the need for help in achieving personal growth and improvement.
Fresh Starts and Awareness in Habit Formation
Various experts, such as Tom Vanderbilt, Devdutt Pattanaik, and James Clear, emphasize the significance of fresh starts and awareness in habit formation. Fresh starts, such as the beginning of a new year, month, week, or a personal milestone like a birthday, provide opportunities to reflect and commit to change. These moments create a feeling of a new chapter and raise awareness about our habits. By deliberately and consciously being aware of our behavior and using techniques like pointing and calling to increase awareness, we can more effectively build positive habits and disentangle undesirable ones.
This episode of Connecting the Dots deals with Building Habits that stick. This is that time of the year when your new year resolutions meet the rough and tumble of your life. Having a process that ensures that you work towards your outcomes is critical. As James Clear says, we don’t rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems. We shine the light on how we can all build habits that stick.
While this episode is a compilation across many speakers, if you want to tune into the various nuggets around this theme of harmonising across work and other elements of life, you could visit - https://www.playtopotential.com/tags/habits
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