The One Skill to Master Before Any Other
A Practical Guide to Just Starting
We are often sceptical towards articles that suggest a silver-bullet solution to all of our problems. Recently I came across the book Atomic Habits by James Clear and it actually convinced me that there is a one and only skill to master before any other: the habit of showing up. In this article, I want to explain what this means and why this is the first step, wether you are pursuing career or mental health goals. Here is a spoiler:
Our ability to reach any goal is determined by our motivation levels, which constantly fluctuate. If we only take steps towards our goals when we are spontaneously motivated, progress is slow and determined by factors outside of our control. The first skill to learn is to create motivation from within ourselves. This can be done by placing so called ‘atomic habits’ in our daily life. Atomic habits are habits that are astonishingly easy to accomplish, but which can increase motivation levels. They can eventually be replaced by habits that bring us closer to our goals.
If you feel like this needs a little more explanation, read on!
Motivation fluctuates
To reach any goal in life, we need to take action, for which we need motivation. In simplified psychological terms, motivation is an internal state guiding all of our goal-oriented behaviours, ranging from our dinner goals to our self-actualisation goals. However, on a neural level, our instinct for food is very different from our drive to realise our intellectual or creative potential. This means that psychologists can only model motivation on an abstract level. Motivation is driven by a mix of person and situation factors¹. Such factors can be: Are you a patient person? Are you hungry²? Is there a nice juicy reward on the line? When B.J. Fogg introduced his popular behavioural model of motivation, he translated these long-established concepts into two practical insights:
a. Our motivation levels constantly fluctuate.
b. Our motivation levels determine what actions we are capable of doing
When motivation levels are high, we have the extraordinary chance to do hard things. When they are low, we can only go through with things that seem easier.
We can create motivation
Actions determine our moods. Our moods determine our motivation levels. Our motivation levels determine our next actions.
This insight is as old as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). David Burns, one of the core founders of CBT points out that “ACTION comes first, followed by motivation”. In fact, waiting for motivation to kick off action is a common mistake by all procrastinators. This means we are actually able to influence our own motivation levels by springing into action.
Procrastination creates more procrastination
It is known that procrastination is not a productivity problem, but an emotional regulation problem. We avoid a task because we have an inappropriately strong negative sentiment towards it: We fear a task because of a lack of clarity, a perceived lack of competence, or a lack of interest. Let’s make these three procrastination fears explicit:
- I don’t understand the task
- I can’t do the task
- I don’t want to do the task
These thoughts can arise for a lot of reasons: They tend to go hand in hand with high stakes and perfectionism. No matter the causes of procrastination, on a psychological level, it boils down to the following vicious circle:
The more you procrastinate, the more you are afraid of the task, the more motivation is needed to do the task, the rarer you find that motivation.
Action reduces the three procrastination fears
We know that action can affect our motivation levels, but what exactly are those effects? Action is shown to weaken all three of the above procrastination fears: We start to believe in our own capability, we become more interested, and we gain clarity.
I actually CAN do the task
When in a negative emotional state, such as during procrastination, we tend to fall victim to a cognitive distortion called negative prediction: We predict our own failure so that we can justify not even trying. According to a 2001 study by the University of Missouri–Columbia, springing into action changes our perceived self-efficacy, meaning we actually start believing in our own competence. This belief motivates us to continue, resulting in an upward spiral of productivity.
The task isn’t actually THAT boring
The Ovsiankina Effect shows a paradoxical trait of human nature: While we often struggle to get started, when in the progress of doing a task, we don’t like being interrupted. In fact, we develop an urge to continue the task we absolutely dreaded just minutes ago. How can this be explained? In the same way eating satisfies our hunger, goal-oriented behaviour activates the reward system in our brain. We start experiencing pleasure from making progress, so we want to continue.
I DO understand the task
Pleasure from the task and seeing the results of our previous work puts us in a more positive mindset: The negative emotions towards the daunting task begin to weaken. Suddenly, we feel more clarity on what needs doing and are up for the job.
How to actually get started?
‘Just get started’ is not very practical advice if you lack motivation. It really only ever works in theory. This is where the book Atomic Habits comes in. One of the core ideas of the book is: The most effective strategy for personal growth is to set up good habits. Habits are automatic behaviours that we don’t have to think about every time we perform them. Their power lies in their frequency and consistency. If your daily life is held up by a scaffold of habits that are in line with the person you want to become, you will naturally develop into that person. Reaching your life goals will not feel like swimming against the current if you are the one setting the direction of the current.
The habit of showing up
Changing habits is hard because we associate habits with rewards. It can feel difficult to replace that Netflix session you have been looking forward to with an evening run because you associate the former with ‘fun’ while the latter doesn’t seem appealing at first. This step requires high levels of motivation that you rarely have at your disposal. According to James Clear, we can “[s]olve this problem by picking a new habit that is easy enough that you don’t need motivation to do it”, an atomic habit. Instead of replacing your Netflix session with exercise, commit to two push-ups just before switching on the TV. Whether motivation is high or not, you will be able to do it. You may think, two push-ups every day will not make you fitter, but this is not the point.
By using an atomic habit, you are creating a permanent space in your daily routine for exercise. This puts you into the ‘action’ mindset. You stopped procrastinating and you are harvesting the benefits of having started: You gain clarity on your goals, you start feeling competent and interested. After a week or two, you make it 5 push-up, then a 20-minute workout and so on.
Building habits incrementally
This article discusses only the first step of James Clear’s book and skips over most of his strategy for personal growth: After mastering the art of showing up, you need to start thinking about what next-level habits to choose. James Clear explains how to select identity-based and not outcome-based goals and to turn them into habits. He discusses the danger of motion habits vs. action habits. I strongly recommend reading the book or at least Samuel Davies’ summary of it. To me, the core idea of the book is to start out with low-cost placeholder habits, the atomic habits, and incrementally increase their weight in your life.
Why it’s difficult to start small
So there is one skill to master before any other: the habit of showing up. We all probably know that we should start small, and yet we rarely do so. When in a state of motivation, we are often afraid to move in small increments because we know that our motivation is transient. Motivation slips away very quickly and our natural reaction is to get done as much as we can when we feel inspired. We forget that small systematic changes are more effective than large one-off efforts. However, there is a comforting thought at the core of atomic habits:
Finally our ability of getting something done is not up to the weather, the availability of coffee or whether the stars are aligned. We can start realising our personal growth plans independent of motivation levels. We can start whenever and wherever.
¹Heckhausen, J., & Heckhausen, H. (2008). Motivation and Action: Introduction and Overview. In Heckhausen, J., & Heckhausen, H. (Eds). Motivation and action (Vol. 22). New York: Cambridge University Press.
²In fact, Jonathan Levav and his colleagues at Stanford university showed in a famous study that judges’ motivation to make hard decisions, such as on prisoners’ chance of parole, is highly influenced by factors like hunger.
