4 Things to Try While Building New Habits ( Part 3)
3rd Law: Make It Easy
All things are difficult before they are easy. Over these years, I’ve found out that one of the critical factors of my failure in building habits is “ planning for too long”. Before I really took the first step, I spent lots of time and energy trying to come up with a perfect plan. The result was usually quite frustrating since I always found my plans “ not good enough” and thus never have had the courage to start.
We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action.
But according to Clear, the key to build a habit is not how great your plan is or how much time you’ve spent on each of your actions, but how often you have practiced them!
Any idea of how to begin? If not, Clear provides us an idea which is called “ The 2-minute rule”. If you want to build a habit, start with a 2-minute (easy) version of it. For example, if you want to build a habit of reading before you go to bed, you can start with reading 2 pages every night. You may think that 2 pages are “not enough”, but the key here is to reinforce the identity you want to build by repetition. Remember, “ Motions are good things, but they don’t produce a result!” So instead of pondering about how to make your plan perfect, try to think about how to design an environment that can make you do the “right thing” easy!
4th Law: Make It satisfying
Another common cause in failing to build a habit is the lack of satisfaction and motivation. Many people, including me, often hope to reach the top immediately. So we are prone to give up halfway because of constant strikes and challenges. Thus according to Clear, it is important to give yourself an “immediate reward”. The reward doesn’t have to big but can quickly make you feel successful and satisfied. For instance, if you want to break the habit of eating out, and at the same time, you’re planning to visit Europe with your girlfriend next year, you can save 1000 dollars into your “ Trip to Europe” account to reward yourself.
For me, I found myself enjoying the sense of “progress”. So after I started to use a productivity tool recommended by one of my friends－ Notion, the desire and the efficiency of learning have increased tremendously. Why’s that? Because when I start a new book, I can add a page to my “ Reading List” page; When I find some sentences that touch my heart, I can add a page to my “ Resonance Calendar” page; And when I finish the book, I can add a page to my “ Book Notes” page and turn the status of the book in Book List page from “Reading” to “Read”. “Adding pages” brings me a sense of progress, and therefore, brings me joy and motivation to read one book after another. It may seem small, but it turns out to be the main factor for me to fall in love with reading and gaining various knowledges.
<ps> My Notion page:
So, to sum up, if you’ve been trying to build a habit for a long time but have never succeeded, try to focus on what kind of person you’d like to become and rearrange your plans based on the “Four Laws of Behavior Change”. And remember, take a rest as a reward after finishing this article! See you next time!
