What's going on guys?
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Welcome to part two of the Atomics Habits, by James Clear, book summary.
If you haven't already, be sure to first watch all of part one.
Link is in the description below.
Now, here's the part that you have been waiting for, the actual four steps to create good
habits and end bad ones.
Now, these four laws we can use to create good habits.
The first law applies to your cue and it's to make it obvious.
The second law applies to the craving and that is to make it attractive.
The third law applying to the response is to make it easy.
And the fourth law, applying to the reward, is to make it satisfying.
Now, to break bad habits, we simply invert these four laws.
So, first, we make it invisible.
Second, we make it unattractive.
Third, we make it difficult.
And fourth, we make it unsatisfying.
Here's something that may surprise you, the cues that spark our habits are often so common
that they become invisible to our consciousness - the phone next to you while you study, the
remote control next to the couch, the cookies on the counter.
Our responses to these cues are so hardwired that we must begin the process of behavior
change with awareness.
James provides an example of the Japanese railway system of Pointing-and-Calling as
a safety system where workers literally point and call to their various cues, like a signal
being green, thereby, bringing it to their conscious awareness.
It seems silly, but it greatly reduces errors.
And in the operating room, we do the exact same thing with Time Out.
Prior to any incision, the surgeon leads the health care team in verifying the patient's
medical record, name, date of birth, procedure, what side of the body the procedure is being
done and the medications being administered prior to incision.
Another important aspect to making habits obvious is what Clear calls an implementation
intention.
Here's the formula, I will do a certain behavior at a certain time at a certain location.
Specifically describing the exact action you will take at a specific cue will greatly increase
your chances of success.
For example, at 7 A.M., I will meditate for five minutes in my living room.
I personally use habit coupling or habit pairing, which is synonymous to what Clear calls habit
stacking.
This is essentially, associating one habit which I consistently perform with a new one
that I'm trying to built.
For example, I stretch every morning without fail but my meditation isn’t as consistent.
By coupling the two, I’m much more likely to meditate every single day.
Here's the habit stacking formula, after this current habit I will do this new habit.
The application of this is quite broad, but to be most effective, the cue should be highly
specific and immediately actionable.
For healthy eating, you can say “When I serve myself a meal, I will always put veggies
on my plate first.”
The second law is to make it attractive.
We know that dopamine is the neurotransmitter most implicated in pleasure and addiction.
But it isn’t just associated with the experience of pleasure – it’s also released when
you anticipate pleasure.
This anticipation is what gets us to take action.
So, how do we use this to our advantage?
Temptation Bundling.
You're more likely to find a behavior attractive if you get to do one of your favorite things
at the same time.
For example, I love the TV show Top Gear (and now the Grand Tour).
And I tell myself that I can watch it as long as I want, but I must stretch while doing
so.
Here's the equation for Temptation Bundling, after a current habit, I will do this habit
that I need.
And after I do this habit that I need, I will do the habit that I want.
Let's say you want to cut down on your Instagram use.
After I pull out my phone I will do 10 burpees, that's the need.
And after I do 10 burpees, I will check Instagram, that's your want.
It’s key to also be aware of the importance of our family and friends.
You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
We don’t actually choose our earliest habits – we imitate them.
The closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate some of their habits.
A person’s risk of becoming obese increases by 57% if he or she had a friend who became
obese.
In light of this, one of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is
to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.
I’ve spoken about the power of language before in my book summary of Stick With It.
The author called it neurohacks.
James provides an excellent example.
Swap the word “have” with “get”.
Instead of saying “I have to exercise”, say “I get to exercise”.
“I get to make breakfast.”
“I get to wake up early.”
It’s a subtle nuance, but it makes all the difference.
The mindset determines how pleasurable or painful the experience is – not the actual
experience itself.
A huge one for me that actually transformed my perception of public speaking was reinterpreting
my physiologic response from fear to excitement.
Yeah, my heart is racing, but not because I’m scared to speak, but because I’m so
excited to speak!
The third law is to make it easy.
People often ask me how long it takes to cultivate a new habit.
Is it three weeks?
Two months?
When will I be done with creating a habit?
Well, habits form based on frequency not time.
It’s not a question of how many weeks for a habit to stick, but rather the frequency
and number of repetitions that make the difference.
Over time, it should get easier and easier, but there’s no magic duration at which that
happens.
Rather than brute forcing, making the habit easy and effortless is much more likely to
work.
To do this, we want to reduce the friction of good habits and increase the friction associated
with bad habits.
Now, consider your environment.
Reduce the friction of working out by joining a gym that is on the way home from school.
Even better, set out your workout clothes, shoes, gym bag, and water bottle the night
before.The greater the friction, the less likely the habit.
It’s amazing how little friction is required to prevent unwanted behavior.
Simply moving my phone to another room or out of sight drastically helps me focus when
studying or doing Pomodoro’s.
US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven has an excellent speech on the importance of making
your bed.
The reason is simple.
Habits are like the decision trees.
If you’re able to start off the day with good choices that reinforce good habits, you’re
much more likely to end up having a good day.
These decisive moments are what determine the quality of your day – not your willpower.
If you go to McDonald’s for lunch, you’re much more likely to eat something unhealthy
than if you went to Tender Greens.
Realize that a habit must be established before it can be improved.
Don’t try perfecting your habit from the start, just try getting it to stick.
Oftentimes, we are overzealous with our new habits and overdo them, burning ourselves
out.
For example, let’s say you understand the benefits of daily journaling and want to implement
that.
If you expect yourself to write too much, it quickly feels like a chore.
The key is to stay below the point where it feels like work.
The fourth and final law is to make it satisfying - to keep you coming back for more.
Generally speaking, what is rewarded is repeated, and what is punished is avoided.
We call that operant conditioning.
Unfortunately, we operate in a delayed-return environment and many of the habits we wish
to ingrain aren’t immediately satisfying – they pay off only in the long term.
And as humans, we exhibit time inconsistency, meaning we value the present more than the
future.
A reward that is certain right now is typically worth more than one that is merely possible
in the future.
But this bias to instant gratification often leads to problems.
With bad habits, the immediate outcome usually feels good, but the ultimate outcome feels
bad.
And with good habits, it’s the opposite.
So, how can we use our evolutionary machinery to our advantage?
Simple.
Add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run and
a little bit of immediate pain to the ones that don’t.
Immediate reinforcement is particularly effective when dealing with habits of avoidance, which
are behaviors you want to stop doing.
Eventually, you’ll experience intrinsic rewards, like increased energy or better mood.
At that point, you’ll be less concerned with chasing the secondary reward.
The identity itself becomes the reinforcer.
Incentives start the habit.
Identity sustains the habit.
I was excited when I read that.
One of Clear’s top tips is to measure progress and make that progress satisfying through
the use of habit trackers.
I have personally used several over the years, and I’ve found them to be crucial objective
forms of measurement.
I can’t lie to myself about how many times I went to the gym last week – the data is
all there.
And when I get a streak going, I don’t want to break it.
My personal favorite is HabitShare, which allows you to share your habits with friends
for accountability.
Habit tracking is powerful because it uses multiple laws of behavior change.
It simultaneously makes a behavior obvious, attractive, and satisfying.
One of my favorite things about habit tracking is that it keeps you focused on the process
and not the result.
You’re not trying to bench 3 plates – you’re focusing on the type of person that lifts
5 times per week.
That being said, there are some issues with habit tracking.
It feels like an extra step, like more work.
To get around that, here are a few tips.
First, automate the measurements whenever possible.
I bought a smart scale that automatically syncs with my phone.
It measures my weight and body fat percentage in just a few seconds.
It’s not the most accurate, but it is very precise, which is actually more important
in this use case.
Second, manual tracking should only be done for your most important habits.
And third, record the measurement after the habit occurs.
Using stacking in this manner makes you much more likely to actually track the habits consistently.
It is inevitable that you will miss days.
You won’t be perfect.
I guarantee it.
Whenever you skip, the key is to remind yourself of simple rule: never miss twice.
Missing one workout happens, but you can’t let yourself miss two in a row.
It’s never the first mistake that ruins you.
It’s the spiral of repeated mistakes that follow.
Missing once is an accident.
Missing twice is the start of a new habit.
If you’re serious about changing your habits and thereby changing your life, I recommend
you watch our book summary on Stick With It.
Another book covering a scientific process for changing your habits.
Link in the description below.
Thank you all so much for watching.
Shout out to my patreon supporters that help make videos like these possible.
If you too would like to video chat with me every month or get access to my exclusive
commentary for each video consider supporting us on patreon.
It allows me to keep creating these videos on YouTube.
What habits are you working on creating or breaking?
Let me know down in the comments.
If you liked the video please press that thumbs up button and subscribe so that you don't
miss any of our new videos.
If you didn't like it let me know with a thumbs down.
Thank you all so much for watching and I will see you guys in that next one.