I tried changing my habits for a year and here is what i learned
After reading James Clear’s ‘Atomic Habits’ book, I made a firm decision to change my habits. I was inspired by the idea that making a 1% improvement every day could lead to a massive 37.8% improvement in my life by the end of the year. Conversely, if I were to worsen by 1% every day, I would be almost at zero in a year. I was determined to make a change and thought, “Wow, let’s do this!” In this article, I will share the valuable lessons that I learned during my journey of changing habits.
Lesson 1: Changing habits is extremely difficult:
My approach to this challenge was to break it down into 21-day increments. I committed to doing six things consistently for 21 days, and once that became a habit, I added six more things to the list. This way, I gradually built up a solid foundation of positive habits over time. For the first month, I focused on…
- Wake up at 5 am everyday
- Pray for an hour
- Make my bed
- Exercize for 15 minutes everyday
- Read a book
- Listen to a podcast
After the initial 21-day period, I gradually added more things to my list. Overall, I successfully maintained this challenge for about four months. However, I eventually found it challenging to continue because I was trying to change too many things about myself in a short period of time. It’s important to remember that making significant changes takes time and effort, and we should be patient with ourselves as we work towards our goals.
It was also quite disheartening to face occasional setbacks, especially when unexpected circumstances arose, leaving me feeling discouraged.”
At times, I might selectively complete certain tasks on the list while leaving out the rest.
Lesson 2: Sticking to a habit can be difficult in the long run
Following four months of attempting to modify my habits, I had become disheartened. I lacked the motivation to continue the challenge any further. I realized that some challenges are only feasible under certain circumstances; for instance, I could only uphold the habit when I was alone and at home. However, when I went camping with friends, it became impractical to persist with the challenge. As I began to miss days, I eventually gave up on the challenge, feeling that I had failed to change my habits.
Lesson 3: You need an accountability partner
To make significant decisions or changes in your life, it can be helpful to have someone to support you. If I had found someone to whom I could be accountable for every instance where I failed to complete a task, I may have been able to persevere even when I felt like giving up. In his book, James Clear had accountability partners to whom he was answerable, and every time he failed to do what he had committed to, he would pay them a sum of money.
The idea of losing money due to laziness became a powerful motivator for him to stay consistent and make progress towards his goals. Therefore, having an accountability partner can be a valuable tool for changing your habits and maintaining consistency.
Lesson 4: Make sure that the habits you are developing are based on your goals
When I was studying Industrial Engineering in college, I learned about the Pareto Principle. It states that 80% of the results come from only 20% of the work we do. In other words, the remaining 80% of the work brings little to no value.
Previously, I spent most of my time on tasks that didn’t align with my personal goals, and as a result, my energy was being wasted. During my studies in industrial engineering, I learned about the seven types of waste, which include time and movement. This concept helped me realize that when people focus on non-value adding activities, they may feel like they’re being productive, but in fact, they’re not making any progress towards their goals.
When you’re trying to develop a new habit, it’s important to ensure that it aligns with your goals and the type of person you want to become in the future. There’s no point in cultivating habits that won’t help you in any way towards your desired goals. For example, if your goal is to become a successful musician, then studying books about plumbing won’t be of much use to you. Instead, focus on developing habits that are relevant to your music career, such as studying music theory and practicing your vocals. By doing so, you’ll be more likely to become the kind of person you want to be in the future..
Lesson 5: You need like-minded people who are in the same journey as you
“It’s important to have a supportive community that shares your goals for self-improvement and habit change. Unfortunately, the people in my immediate circle weren’t very invested in these things, even though they didn’t actively discourage them either. However, I recognized that my goals were different from theirs. It just didn’t matter to them as much as it did to me.
Within my social circle, I believe I was the sole individual who prioritized self-development and self-improvement. I lacked any form of support as I endeavored to apply the teachings of James Clear’s book, “Atomic Habits”.
I have learned that the people in my social circle have a significant impact on the type of person I become. If I spend time around individuals who frequently exhibit anger, I may begin to adopt their behavior over time. Therefore, if I am truly committed to my personal development, I must seek out a new social circle.
In conclusion, changing your habits can be a significant challenge, but that should not dissuade you from trying. Merely because I experienced failure does not guarantee that you will as well. Though I may have been inconsistent throughout the year, I recognize that the primary issue was my failure to try hard enough and push myself to the fullest extent. Thank you for taking the time to read this post; it genuinely means a lot to me.”
