
Clear says he didn’t follow this advice when he created the habit stack “When I take a break for lunch, I will do ten push-ups.” He knew he made a mistake because he wasn’t following through.

Write the existing habit out with specificity. Step 2: Write out the sentence: After, I will. Sit down to dinner Finish eating dinner.Get dressed for the day Get undressed for the evening.Step 1: Identify an existing habit, after which you’ll do your new habit. When I, I will take one deep breath and smile (then answer).When I start to, I will put vegetables on first.When I, I will give away something else.When I, I will set an alarm for 24 hours away and then purchase it (if I still want it).When I, I will introduce myself to someone new.When I, I will take the stairs if my destination is less than 10 floors up.Second, you can begin using less “obvious” existing like the following: After I finish eating dinner, I will put my plate directly into the dishwasher… …After I put my plate away, I will wipe down the countertop… …After I wipe down the countertop, I will set out my coffee mug for tomorrow morning.After I pour my morning coffee, I will meditate for one minute… …After I meditate for one minute, I will write my daily plan… …After I write my daily plan, I will begin my first task.And once your brain learns this small added step, your new habit inherits the consistency power of your existing habit!Īnd there are even more opportunities once you get skilled at habit stacking.įirst, once you get good at habit stacking, you can build powerful multi-level stacks: The reason habit stacking is so effective is that you already do the existing habit. After I put on my running shoes, I will text someone where I’m running and for how long (for safety purposes).After I sit down to eat dinner, I will say one thing I’m grateful for today.


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Here are additional examples of how to do this: Likewise, once doing that consistently is easy, you can the difficulty the following week. After a week or more, you can ramp up to the next stage once you have no trouble doing the current stage consistently without much willpower.įor instance, once you can meditate for 2 minutes every day and find that easy to do - which may happen after the first week, but it may take longer - you can then move on the next phase of your plan (say 4 minutes daily). You may not spend long at the first stage of your plan.
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You simply take a goal (which we’ll identify shortly) and break it down to a series of smaller habits that will lead there. James Clear uses the term Habit Shaping to explain how to work your way up to big goals. How to Start Small to Make Your Habit Easy To get a roaring fire with the big logs of your dreams, start the fire with some easy stuff first!Īfter that, ramp up to the big logs and you’ll be enjoying the warmth and glow of your goals being achieved. What happens if you put the big logs on first? What do you do to get the fire going? You use small kindling which catches fires easily.Īdd the big logs that we all picture in a good fire.

To get around this pitfall, we want to start small with a habit and then ramp up.Ī great analogy is that of starting a fire. Even if we can pull it off for a while, maintaining such a big change consistently is not realistic. Going from zero minutes/day of meditation to 30 minutes/day will be nearly impossible for mortals. Habits are all about consistency, and one of the biggest barriers to consistency is not starting small enough. Where relevant, I’ll call out the applicable Laws. So, this guide is structured around the core tactics from Atomic Habits that show you how to build a powerful habit from start to finish. For instance, tactics used to make a habit attractive also can be used to make it satisfying. Many of the core tactics in Atomic Habits satisfy several of the Laws. These “laws” should be followed to create successful behavior change. The Atomic Habits system for habits is built on these Four Laws of Behavior Change: “You do not rise to the level of your goals,” Clear writes. You have a bad system for changing habits. If you struggle to build good habits or to avoid bad habits, the problem is not you. To be clear: goals are important! Goals set your target.īut systems are even more important.
