The Power of Habit
TLDR; Habit building like a pro, one man ran every single street in San Francisco, and a look into the tribal mindset.
“All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits — practical, emotional, and intellectual — systematically organized for our weal or woe, and bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny, whatever the latter may be.” — William James
Dear Reader,
Intuitively, you know that your habits are the only things standing between you and everything you want in life.
But in practice, doing the work necessary to upgrade your habits isn’t easy. In fact, it might be one of the most difficult battles you’ll ever fight. The stakes couldn’t be higher: you know a better quality of life is available to you and those you care about if you upgrade your habits. If you don’t upgrade your habits, eventually you’ll have to face enormous regrets.
The Power of Habit is one of the most important primers and science-backed starting points for upgrading your habits. The book contains vital reminders:
“Once you know a habit exists, you have the responsibility to change it . . . others have done so . . . That, in some ways, is the point of this book. Perhaps a sleep-walking murderer can plausibly argue that he wasn’t aware of his habit, and so he doesn’t bear responsibility for his crime, but almost all of the other patterns that exist in most people’s lives — how we eat and sleep and talk to our kids, how we unthinkingly spend our time, attention and money — those are habits that we know exist. And once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom and the responsibility to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp and the only option left is to get to work.” ― Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Duhigg boils it down brilliantly:
“The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.”
We all have bad habits that need changed or okay habits that could be better. Learning how to recognize and improve these habits is a vital part of living a life of intent.
Great habits also help you with decision making by giving you fewer decisions to make. Think of Steve Jobs and his daily getup of a black turtle neck and jeans. Choosing an outfit was one less thing he had to do every morning. Habits take the questions out of your day-to-day. A set bedtime, work out plan, or diet all can help you passively craft the life you want.
We’ve found four things that are game-changers to help effectively build and upgrade habits. They are: Systems, Mindset, Identification, and Implementation.
Over the rest of the week, we’ll run through each of them plus share a few brief tips and ideas to help apply and implement them immediately.
What’s important to remember this week and moving forward is that, in the game of life, your greatest competitor is yourself. Make decisions that are best for you and craft habits that support the goals you are proud to reach. 💪
Stay tuned tomorrow as we start our deep dive into the power of habit. 🤗
Hot Off the Press 🔥
New on Mission Daily. Bret Taylor has had a remarkable career as a tech entrepreneur. He founded FriendFeed, one of the first social networks, co-created Google Maps, served as the CTO of Facebook, and is currently the President and Chief Product Officer at Salesforce.
On this episode, Bret takes us through his career, from building his first company as a teenager to his various businesses and subsequent acquisitions. He also talks innovation in the Valley and shares details about Salesforce’s Associate Product Management Program.
Mission News 🗞
This section features the best of what the team at The Mission HQ is reading, watching, listening to, playing, doing, and meditating on. 🤗
Reading 📚
✍️ If you’re like me, then you’ve struggled your whole life to spell things — anything and everything — correctly. From NPR, here are a few ways to make sure you never spell a name wrong again.
“We need not impress upon you the importance of spelling proper nouns correctly — on digital and in scripts. While nothing can substitute for constant vigilance, you can lower your odds of scoring a correction with these techniques.”
⛺️ How does our tribal mindset affect life today? From Wait But Why:
“Our society today is, in its own way, still a game of giants. To understand the world around us, you can’t think only about people as individuals — we need to get to know the tribal mindset. So what are some elements of a tribal mindset?”
Watching 🎬
Looking for some inspiration to get up, get moving, and get talking with those around you? Follow Rickey Gates as he runs every single street in San Francisco.
“Rickey Gates decided to run every single street in San Francisco — to get to know a very small area of America, as well as its people, intimately. With over 1100 Miles of street the film documents Rickey’s journey, and the people he meets along the way, as he runs into midst of one of the most iconic and diverse cities in the world.”
Food For Thought 🤔
How To Know You’re In Flow: Maslow’s 16 Aspects of Peak-Experience —
“Abraham H. Maslow, in his paper, A Theory of Human Motivation, said that man [the human being] is a perpetually wanting animal. There seems to be no denying this, and, in fact, it appears to be a fundamental basis for the growth of the species. In this mode of wanting, in our desire for more, and our need to fill the psychological void, there is potential for material success or failure. There is also the prospect of Peak Experience — the seldom reached place where we may experience euphoria and complete assimilation of the self in the act.
Material gain is short-lived because although we may believe we know what we want, the fulfilled need is transient and never truly satisfies. In contrast, Peak Experience is a desireless state where all needs are met.
As Maslow states;
‘The average member of our society is most often partially satisfied and partially unsatisfied in all of their wants.’
What is difficult for many of us, perhaps, is that we possess a certain degree of unawareness of our desirous state — we know we want something, but we don’t know what it is. In this, we are fundamentally disturbed by our dissatisfaction, only partially relieved by moments of idle indulgence or indeed, a chance peak experience.”
Sign Off ✌️
Happy Tuesday! Thanks for tuning into another edition of the Mission Daily newsletter. As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, or feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out by responding to this email or hitting us up on socials @TheMissionHQ.
This was the September 3rd edition of the Mission Daily newsletter. If you like what you read, join us on our mission.
