Building Better Habits With James Clear. Lesson 3
How to Fit New Habits in Your Life
Lesson 3 of 11
How to Fit New Habits in Your Life
Hey, greatness-seeking, pure goal-oriented, purpose-driven soul!
How are you doing today? I hope you are keeping pace and doing marvellously well.
I am happy you are; this is the third lesson in our "better habit building journey with James Clear,"
You should check the first lesson here and the second. And I urge you to take the course yourself. Find it here.
Now, let's dive right in.
"Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. It is not always obvious when and where to take action." James Clear.
In this second lesson, Clear writes about the "implementation intention." It's the sharpest method to drill the consciousness of developing a new habit in your daily life.
It means having clarity about what you want to do and carving a space for what you want to do; carving a space—isolating a specific time and location.
Clear outlined some examples. We will pick two of them and break them down:
I will drink 16 ounces of water after I brush my teeth in my bathroom:
The habit you want to form here is "drinking water," the specific time is after you brush your teeth, and the location is your bathroom.
I will open my textbooks at 7 pm at my desk in my dorm room:
The habit you want to form here is "studying your books," the specific time is at 7 p.m., and the location is in your dorm room.
Isn't all this too much for just forming simple habits? You ask yourself. Well, remember, the overall idea here is "Atomic." —tiny, little, almost unnoticeable adjustments and improvements that have tremendous impacts on your life.
As you keep engaging these atomic principles, they become part of you with time, and you find yourself doing them without even thinking about doing them. They simply diffuse into your life, becoming habits.
"Every [tiny] action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become."
And you know what makes all this even more fascinating? Science confirms that it is true. Scientists have carried out a lot of research to establish these behavioural principles. So, there's evidence backing up every practice here.
Week 1 Summary
"True behavior change is identity change": By imbibing the right habits, you are gradually changing who you are. It's not magic or mystery. It's just pure science.
"A habit must be established before it can be improved": Be committed to consistently showing up, no matter what.
"If you can master the right habit at the right time, everything falls into place": Implementation intention [today's lesson].
Yes, I am so excited!
You can read the next lesson:
And before I leave you to enjoy the remaining hours of your busy Wednesday, I want to tell you about a writing course created by Tim Denning.
You may know Tim Denning if you are familiar with online writing. Great guy.
I respect him so much [when I started writing online, he was one of the few writers I went to for real inspiration when I felt like giving up and becoming a monk].
His online writing course will change your writing career forever! Full assurance.
I have observed that starting or early-stage creatives need a hard push out of their comfort zones.
Something to make them create every day, to make them show up at all times—in front of the canvas, microphone, or laptop screen. And these courses I share with you are designed to do just that.
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And finally, final, an article by Ryan Holiday I enjoyed so much. He brought together powerful advice from an army of highly talented, celestial-like writers. I would love for you to read it. It's amazing. You won't regret it. Check it out here.
Catch you soon.
[Remember to share goodness with those you genuinely love].