Let’s talk about habits.
Habits are an efficient use of your energy. The faster you can turn your desired activities into a habit, the less energy you put into convincing yourself to do things, and the more automated your life becomes in the direction of your goals.
It goes without saying that building habits is a smart idea. We already have habits that are either helping us or hurting us, but I want you to build habits that help you and start to get rid of those habits that are getting energetically in the way of you achieving whatever goals you have right now.
So, today I’m sharing with you my three favorite hacks when it comes to habits.
1) Keystone Habits
Recently, I read the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. In this book, he talks about keystone habits which are essentially habits that lead to other good habits.
The biggest keystone habit is exercise. When I was training for my marathon, we were out for a long run on a Saturday morning and our coach was saying how people eventually just stopped going out on Friday nights prior to a long run on Saturday mornings because it was counterproductive to be out having cocktails past your bedtime and then get up and run 15 miles. People who exercise tend to eat better, sleep more, and drink more water because they’re all tied into each other.
Another keystone habit is how you start your morning. If you automate some healthy activities in the morning, such as meditating or exercising and that’s how you start your day, it’s going to lead to a really constructive rest of the day.
2) Master Your Mornings
How you start the day matters. Either you start the day, or the day starts you!
My phone was my alarm and it was really easy to check my texts and my socials first thing in the morning. The problem here is that I was being led by whatever information I was given and based on the Law of Attraction, the time that your brain is most open to possibility and potential is right in the morning when it’s nice and fresh from a good night’s sleep. This is why I switched from using my phone as my alarm to using a hatch light. Now I wake up to what looks like natural light. I do some meditation (check out Insight Timer) or I journal. Then I’ll get up and start to move the day around.
This also goes for your nighttime routine. Typically I try to get off my phone and do some journaling, read an actual book or listen to a sleep Nidra meditation before I go to bed.
3) Habit Stacking
Habit stacking is different from keystone habits.
In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about stacking your habits like little stacks on top of a bigger habit. Let’s say you want to do more push-ups. You say to yourself: “I have to do 10 push-ups before I check Instagram.” Or you want to reach out more to people on social media. You say to yourself: “Before I scroll social media, I will go into stories and I’m going to comment on five people’s stories.” (Side note: A great marketing hack is to contribute to the platform before you take from the platform because the algorithm wants to see that you’re an active member of the community and the more you are engaging with other people, the more likely they are to see your stuff!)
Lastly, if you’re struggling with these habits, stop and think about the stories you’re telling yourself about why it’s hard and why you can’t do it. Oftentimes, our beliefs get in the way of believing things are possible. Be open to trying things in new ways. If an activity that you desire to do regularly becomes a habit, you stop thinking about it. How great is that?!
Hopefully, this has sparked some curiosity in you and if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with me.
In the meantime, remember, you are magnetic and people are waiting to hear what you have to say.
Love,
Tracey.
