Recently I finished a book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This book sat on my "To-Read" shelf in Goodreads since 2016! It was time, and there was no better time, frankly.
Interestingly, I gave this book a piddly 3 of 5 star rating. When I looked it up for this post, I updated it to four. I haven't stopped thinking about this book for the last couple of weeks. It prepared me to get ready to make real changes in the new year with a focus on good habits.
The book talks about both sides of the habit coin - the good and the bad. Exercise is a great habit. Gambling is not. Habits give our brains the ability to go into auto pilot on some things (morning hygiene, driving to work, etc.) so that we can give energy and literal thought to other, more complex stuff, like reading, using a new tool, solving an equation, etc.
I FINALLY learned more about the "reptile" part of the human brain - the great basal ganglia. It's a more primitive part of the brain that is about the size of a golf ball and is "primarily for motor control, as well as other roles such as motor learning, executive functions and behaviors, and emotions." This area controls your habits.
My favorite and most actionable learning from this title was about the habit loop. This really simplified it for me and got me thinking about my own habits. This habit loop helped me articulate three simple, new habits for 2021.
Water Habit.
- Cue: "Dang, I'm dehydrated."
- Routine: Every morning after I make my coffee, I now also empty the tea kettle and prepare some drinking water for the day. The reason I have drinking water out of the kettle is because I hate buying plastic bottles and I have sensitive teeth, so a nice, tall glass of lukewarm water is my jam. I fill up the kettle and boil it for the next morning.
- Reward: As I ripen, dehydration impacts me a LOT more, so I'm trying to stay juiced with H2O. I have fewer stomach problems, my skin is less dry, and I avoid sugary beverages and snacks by constantly sipping.
Breakfast Habit.
- Cue: My stomach contracts into painful hunger pangs throughout day. Also, need to take Vitamin D with a meal. Was scolded by primary physician. 😒
- Routine: While I mention oatmeal in that example, I'm really going to focus on keeping breakfast quick and simple. I'm going to bore myself to death with a week-long, repetitive breakfast with the goal of taking my Vitamin D with a meal. So far so good, but I have a lot of oatmeal I don't want to waste, so I will be bored to death with oatmeal breakfast until spring, probably. I will say this - I get really friggin' intense hunger pangs in the morning. The moment some coffee hits the belly, it triggers my metabolism in an unpleasant way.
- Reward: Since I've been eating this boring ass oatmeal every day, I haven't had hunger pangs at all and my appetite is a little less, uh, ravenous throughout the day.
Gratitude Morning Meditation. There are lots of studies out there that tell us the positive impacts of gratitude. Feeling grateful for stuff is a practice in mindfulness. And while it's not easy for me to sit still, I know I have time for this quick meditation.
- Cue: It's important to feel gratitude every day and preferably first thing in the morning.
- Routine: Set timer for one minute and focus on or say aloud the following: "I am grateful for this water. I am grateful for this food." (I should mix in a few Sun Salutations or a walk with this habit, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.)
- Reward: I will have set the tone for the day. Even if the rest of the day falls apart, I will have started the day being grateful and positive.
Yes, these are pretty boring, lowkey resolutions, if you even want to call them that. But they were spawned by the ideas around habits and how they form. I'm also quite interested in getting more and more habits developed, but I don't want to overload myself and get discouraged.
This year, I'm looking at habits around writing and reading that are more specific than I've committed to before. Reading more and writing more is great, but what does that even really mean? I really started listing out some initial goals and thoughts. A blog post a month. An article for a newsletter I put together for a group at work. And journaling and counting how much I write every day. The word count has been eye-opening.
One of the most important points that I picked up from Duhigg's book is that following and maintaining good habits leads to more good habits. And shortly after finishing the book, I heard Seth Godin on the Design Matters podcast, where he said: “Do enough bad stuff, and some good stuff is going to slip through, no matter how hard you try.” The quote captures the design thinking spirit. It let me break free of worrying about the perfect being the enemy of the good, but it also got me thinking about getting my writing out of my personal journals and notes and into the world, beyond what I do for a living. Design thinking comes through again, friends.
Good habits will lead to good things. And let's be honest, after 2020, we can all use a little more good in our lives. Cheers.
