Aristotle said it first, and it’s been true ever since:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Your life, your work, your happiness—it’ll all be determined by the good habits you build and the bad ones you eliminate along the way. If you want to make regular progress to become a better, stronger, smarter person and improve your daily performance, focusing on the little automatic actions you take will yield the biggest results.
But habits are hard. Really hard. When you know the science behind how they’re created, maintained, and eliminated, creating good ones and removing bad ones gets a little bit easier.
Here are 10 articles you should read and adhere to if you want the best chance to create good, long-lasting habits in your life.
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01. To Cement A New Habit, Optimize For Repetition
One reason new habits are so hard is that, when you start, it’s hard to know what to do. You worry about saving money if it’s expensive. You worry about saving time if it’s complicated. You worry about saving energy if it’s labor intensive. What you should really worry about, though, is simply doing it over and over again regardless of the cost. You can optimize those other things once you’ve succeeded.
02. The Habit Ladder: How To Make A New Routine Stick
Success, like money, compounds when used wisely. The more of it you have, the easier it is to keep it growing. So, it makes sense to use the habits you’ve already succeeded at to jumpstart new ones. The “habit ladder” is a formula I created to explain how to easily add new habits to your routine. I also really like the drawing that illustrates it.
03. Sample Rate: How The Fast Food Industry Hooks You (And How To Reclaim Your Diet)
This piece is focused on diet, but the underlying principle is powerful: You fail at your habits when you expect too much from yourself too soon. This article is all about how to set yourself up for success with a new habit by making room for failures along the way.
04. Sharpening The Saw: Why Productive People Always Have Time For Exercise
If you think you don’t have time to build a healthy habit, the truth is you probably don’t have time not to. Exercise doesn’t just strengthen your body, it sharpens your mind. And the boost you get from it can carry you through an entire day. Read this if you want to learn how to get healthy and be more productive.
05. Habit Interruption: How I Taught Myself To Stop Peeing In A Broken Toilet
Once a habit is set, it’s hard to break. That’s fantastic for keeping up good ones, but it’s terrible for breaking bad ones. In this article, learn one, small action you can take that will put you in control of your bad habits and help you break them faster.
06. This Habit Technique Can Instantly End A Heroin Addiction (What Could It Do For You?)
One of the most powerful influences on your behavior (that you don’t even realize) is your environment. When you’re in a familiar space, studies show your brain and body go into autopilot and there isn’t a lot you can do about it. If you want to build a new habit or break a bad one, just getting yourself out of your familiar space can help tremendously. Why do you suppose it’s called a “habit-at” after all?
07. Internal Vs. External Motivation: How To Build An Exercise Routine You’ll Stick To
If you’ve ever said, “I need to exercise more,” you’re in good company. But the people who actually do it and stick with it are a much smaller group. What sets them apart? Motivation, and it can come from two places. If you focus on the right one, nothing can stop you. If you don’t, nothing can help you.
08. Want Better Habits? Stop Making This Very Common Mistake
Another major barrier to building habits for long-term success is information overload. When you know everything about two choices, you’ll normally pick the one that pays off the fastest. If you want to make choices that will benefit you for a long time, you’re actually better off making decisions on incomplete information.
09. Stick To It: A Different Way To Think About New Year’s Resolutions
Motivation is the key to success in almost anything. So why do we spend so much time fighting to do things we’re not motivated to? If you want to build a lasting habit, try this method for creating it around the things you’re truly motivated to work on.
10. Your Choices Will Make You Strong And Resilient Or Weak And Pathetic
Every day you make a series of choices. What to eat for breakfast. When to prioritize your work. What route to take home from the office. All of these choices add up to make your life. Are you making the ones that put you in charge? Are you leading your life or is life leading you?
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