The 3 Unbreakable Rules of Kickstarting a Habit – And How to Finally Use Them (yay!)
Conventional wisdom says that positive thinking, enthusiasm, and inspiration are key to living a good and productive life. On the same token motivation, willpower or discipline are what’s needed for successful habit formation, or at least to initially start. But right about now you’ll know what I’m going to say about this – motivation alone is not going to merely be enough to pass you the initial stages of building or breaking a new habit. Enough to get you started but not enough to get you the lows, the hard days, the days you want to skip doing your new habit.
You’ll need much more than that – a game plan with an outside of the box, strategic thinking. Who’d ever thought that quitting Netflix goes beyond just turning the TV off, becoming an early riser if you don't hit the snooze button, or eating more fruits and vegetables is as easy as that, just pick up an apple, they say.
Here’s four must-follow rules for anyone who has trouble with kickstarting any habit. Let’s GO!
Rule #1: Whatever you do, don't wait for motivation to strike. Do this instead
There will never be a best time to start your new habit. And you shouldn’t rely on a spontaneous burst of motivation or extra willpower to keep your habit-building streak going. Instead, a highly effective way to kick-start your habits is to use a strategy: habit stacking. The habit stacking strategy will help you to come up with a concrete plan of action for when and how you will perform your new habit.
The basic idea is that you start with a habit you have already formed, then piggyback on that behavior by adding your new habit. Essentially, you are pairing a reliable habit that you already have with the new habit that you want to form. This strategy takes advantage of the natural momentum you have from doing your normal routine.
The habit stacking formula is:
After I [habit I already do], I will [habit I need to do].
For example, let’s say you want to develop the habit of brushing your teeth every night. Using the formula as your guide, your habit stack might look something like this:
A. After I [turn off Netflix each night (which is something you likely already do)], I will [walk into the bathroom to brush my teeth].
OR
B. After I [take my medicine each night], I will [grab my toothbrush from the sink].
Notice that there is no hassle about trying to fit something new into your busy schedule. You don’t have to break out a new calendar and set time aside specifically for this task. All you have to do is make a mental link from your old habit to your new one, so that every time you complete the old one, you have already remembered and started to perform the new habit.
Rule #2: Make your new habit easier to do.
Here’s how
I’ve shown you how the habit stacking strategy can greatly help you kickstart a new habit. Habit stacking alone is incredibly helpful, but when used in conjunction with the two-minute rule, it becomes even better.
Whereas habit stacking helps you kickstart your new habit, the two-minute rule will help you follow through with it. The two-minute rule is this: The new habit in your habit stack should be a task that can be completed in 2 minutes or less. The key of the two-minute rule is to make your habit stack immediately actionable and easier to do, which stops you from dreading or procrastinating when it comes to your new habit.
Let’s say you want to read every night before getting into bed, your habit stack might look something like this:
After I [turn off Netflix each night], I will [read from my book].
With the two-minute rule, your habit stack becomes:
After I [turn off Netflix each night], I will [read one page from my book].
OR
After I [brush my teeth each night], I will [spend 2 minutes reading my book].
Because the activities are so easy to complete, the odds that you will repeat the habit are vastly increased.
Rule #3: Make your new habit irresistible to do. Here’s how
Some habits are harder to keep than others. For those especially difficult habits, it’s necessary to not only make these habits easy (using the habit stacking strategy) and actionable (using the two minute rule), but also attractive.
Temptation bundling is one of the best ways to make your new habit more attractive to do – by strategically pairing it with something you really want to do. There is nothing wrong with giving yourself an incentive structure to keep you motivated!
To get a better understanding of this strategy, let's combine habit stacking (1) with temptation bundling (2):
After I do [current habit], I will [habit I want to form].
Once I do [habit I want to form], I will get to do [incentive].
Let’s say you want to build the habit of going to the gym for 30 minutes every night, but find it hard to resist Netflix after you finish your dinner, your habit stack might look something like this:
After I [eat my dinner], I will [go to the gym].
Once I [am at the gym], I will [turn on Netflix and watch it during my workout ].
Habit stacking + B) Two-minute Rule + C) Temptation Bundling at work
After I [eat my dinner], I will [change into my workout clothes].
Once I [am in my workout clothes], I will [go to the gym].
Once I [am in the gym], I will [watch Netflix while I am on the treadmill].
In other words, the reward (e.g., doing something you really want to do) motivates you to do the thing you need to do (e.g., your hard-to-form habit).
This is how you can make almost any difficult-to-form habit irresistible.
Why These Strategies Really Work
Strategies like habit stacking, the two-minute rule, and temptation bundling all aim to reduce one thing - ambiguity. Habits, or goals, like “eat better” or “exercise more” lack specificity and clarity as it doesn’t provide the how and when to carry out the habit. They’re among the most practical ways to create a system to kickstart any new habit.
Habit stacking works because it helps you come up with a game plan for how, when and where to execute your habit. It eliminates the the “When should I do it?”, “How do I do it?”
The two minute rule makes any habit easier to do so you’re more likely to start doing it
Temptation bundling makes any habit more enjoyable to do so you’re more likely to follow-through with it
Don’t underestimate the importance of building a system that works for you, a game plan for when and where to take action; building a new habit and creating . The four rules here, if followed and implemented, will help you build a system that favors your day to day routine . The strategies - habit stacking, two-minute rule, temptation bundling - that are embedded in each rule won’t work if they’re not designed around your lifestyle and routine.