Understand that your daily habits (your system) will always determine your results, so focus on building effective systems rather than solely on desired outcomes.
Begin behavior change by asking “Who is the type of person I wish to be?” and then let that desired identity inform the habits you adopt, allowing outcomes to follow naturally.
Understand how habits work and how to shape them to intentionally design your behaviors rather than being a passive recipient of them.
Concentrate on actions within your control, as your long-term results are largely a reflection of your consistent habits.
Adopt a systems-oriented mindset for sustained success, recognizing that goals achieve one-time wins, while robust systems ensure continuous achievement.
Recognize that your performance will ultimately fall to the level of your established systems (daily habits), not merely your aspirations or goals.
Start with tiny, easy-to-do changes and layer them systematically, as these “atomic habits” can collectively lead to powerful and remarkable results over time.
Scale down any new habit to a version that takes two minutes or less to complete (e.g., “read one page” instead of “read 30 books”), making it incredibly easy to start.
Understand that the primary goal initially is to establish a habit as a consistent part of your life, and only then should you focus on optimizing or improving it.
Recognize that even a perfect plan is useless without action; prioritize taking small, consistent steps over endlessly refining a theoretical strategy.
Cultivate the ability to quickly assess your current situation, identify the next correct step, and adjust your path as needed, recognizing that life is dynamic and plans will change.
Start planning by envisioning the “magical” or ideal ultimate outcome, then work backward to determine the necessary steps, without immediately limiting yourself by perceived realism.
Maintain a very clear vision of your ultimate goal (the “where”), but remain highly flexible and adaptable regarding the specific methods or paths you take to achieve it (the “how”).
Understand that behaviors with immediate rewards are repeated, and those with immediate punishment are avoided, using this principle to reinforce desired actions and deter undesired ones.
Recognize the mismatch between our innate desire for instant gratification and modern society’s rewards for delayed gratification, and consciously work to bridge this gap.
Increase perseverance and discipline by identifying areas or skills that genuinely interest you, as enjoying the process makes sustained effort easier than suffering through it.
Be curious and willing to explore many different things to increase your chances of discovering areas that align with your fascinations, interests, and natural abilities.
Identify areas where it genuinely bothers you if something isn’t “right,” as this intrinsic drive to perfect will lead to superior results compared to those who give up when bored or frustrated.
Find joy and motivation in comparing your current performance to your past self, rather than solely focusing on absolute comparisons to others.
Actively seek and acknowledge feelings of progress, as this is one of the most powerful motivators for the human mind.
Recognize that your environment exerts a powerful “gravitational” pull on your behavior, making it crucial to control your surroundings to support desired habits rather than relying solely on willpower.
Make numerous small, deliberate choices to design your physical and digital environments, cumulatively stacking the odds in favor of desired behaviors.
Rearrange your digital environment (e.g., phone home screen) to make cues for desired habits prominent and easily accessible, while moving distracting apps to less visible locations.
Prioritize optimizing habits within your “home court” environment (your personal space where you have control) before tackling more challenging “away court” situations.
Actively seek out and join social groups where your desired behaviors are considered normal, making it easier and more natural for you to adopt and maintain those habits.
Recognize that the desire to belong often outweighs the desire to improve, so align these by joining groups where your desired behaviors are the social norm.
Utilize significant environmental or lifestyle shifts (e.g., new job, moving, getting a pet) to facilitate rapid and often irreversible behavior change.
Create external commitments that are difficult to reverse (like getting a dog with a fixed morning routine) to force adherence to desired habits.
Identify and cultivate pride in specific aspects of your desired identity, as this internal motivation will drive strong commitment to related habits.
View every action as a “vote” for the person you aspire to be, understanding that consistent small actions build evidence for your desired identity.
If you don’t genuinely believe in a new identity, start with very small habits to prove it to yourself through consistent, minor actions.
Use the feeling of being bothered when you miss a habit as a signal that the behavior has become deeply aligned with your identity.
Create a “habit scorecard” by listing every habit you perform in a day with as much detail as possible, aiming to objectively understand your current behaviors without judgment.
To identify the cues for a specific habit, ask yourself “Who, what, when, where, why?” each time the behavior occurs, recording the context to understand its triggers.
Understand that the act of observing or measuring a behavior (e.g., food journaling) often inherently changes that behavior, even without a specific goal.
Use simple tools like habit trackers to visualize your progress, as seeing your achievements can significantly reinforce desired behaviors and motivate continued action.
Choose a specific metric (e.g., water usage) and consistently track it, as the act of measurement and visualization can create an “obsessive” drive to improve.
When beginning behavior change, prioritize making your desired habits obvious and easy to perform, as these two laws provide the most effective starting point.
Design your environment so that the cues for your desired good habits are highly visible, available, and easy to notice, increasing the likelihood of action.
Reduce or eliminate exposure to the cues that trigger undesirable habits by making them invisible in your environment (e.g., unsubscribing from emails, not following certain social media accounts).
Increase your motivation to perform good habits by making them more appealing, exciting, or by associating them with something you already enjoy (e.g., “temptation bundling”).
Decrease your motivation to perform bad habits by making them seem unattractive or by associating them with negative immediate consequences.
Increase the likelihood of performing good habits by making them as easy, convenient, and frictionless as possible, reducing the effort required to start.
Increase the friction and effort required to perform bad habits by adding more steps or making them inconvenient, thereby decreasing the likelihood of engaging in them.
Ensure that good habits provide immediate satisfaction or enjoyment, as this positive emotional signal increases the likelihood of repeating the behavior in the future.
Attach an immediate negative consequence or cost to undesirable habits, making them unsatisfying and less likely to be repeated.
When using short-term rewards, ensure they align with the long-term identity you are trying to build (e.g., a bubble bath for fitness, a hike for financial freedom) rather than contradicting it.
Strive for a state where the act of performing a habit itself becomes satisfying because it reinforces your desired identity, eliminating the need for external rewards.
Focus on building new good behaviors, as they often naturally displace or “crowd out” existing bad habits due to limited time and resources.
Break down complex bad habits into their specific instances throughout the day, then develop tailored interventions for each individual cue-response-reward loop.
When guiding others, simplify their action plan to focus on just one small, manageable behavior at a time, building momentum before introducing more.
Leverage short bursts of motivation to make high-leverage environmental changes, as these one-time efforts can sustain desired behaviors for extended periods without daily willpower.
When trying to influence others’ behavior, consistently praise and reinforce desired actions while largely ignoring minor slip-ups, as positive reinforcement builds momentum.
Offer kindness and encouragement freely, as even small gestures can significantly motivate others to continue desired behaviors.
If you miss a habit or slip up, ensure you get back on track immediately and do not miss it a second consecutive time, preventing a downward spiral.
Understand that single mistakes are rarely ruinous; the real danger lies in allowing one mistake to trigger a cascade or “spiral” of repeated failures.
Mentally divide your day into four quarters (morning, afternoon, dinner, night) and, if you make a mistake, commit to containing it within that quarter to prevent it from derailing the entire day.
After a mistake, avoid self-judgment, guilt, or playing the victim; instead, accept the event objectively and move on to the next opportunity to get back on track.
Increase the effectiveness of accountability by associating a tangible, painful cost (e.g., financial, social judgment) with failing to follow through on a habit.