The following was originally published for Patrons on March 1, 2024. Get caught up at your own pace by joining at the "Post Parisian" level or above!
This is my second time reading Atomic Habits. What I found most interesting on this round was seeing how my perspective on the book had changed in the last couple of years. I’m going to vlog about this a little today, primarily around the core concept of identity, but I thought I’d share an example of how I’ve implemented new habits and also how my perspective has shifted.
I’m vlogging about how the habit of consistently working out was most aided by focusing on how I felt after. Getting up early is miserable at first, especially with the monotony of the gym as your immediate reward. But once I’ve gotten there, half-way through the workout, and especially after I’ve made it home… I feel GREAT. Focusing on that feeling was what helped get me into the rhythm, and what made getting up and going easier. "Even if I want to hit the snooze, I’ll feel better shortly."
It’s the same focus I’ve had in upping my frequency to getting in the gym on a daily basis. I used to fear pushing my limits. I knew I needed to let muscle groups recover. But what I was resisting was the fact that while that’s true, I don’t need to let the rest of my body ‘recover’ from a workout it didn’t have. I can work a different muscle group every day - and the feel-good effects have already been cumulative.
I’ve also successfully implemented a lot of the book’s methodology to build these habits up. I’ll walk you through how I got myself up and out to the gym.
For starters, getting up early starts with going to bed ‘on time.’ So the first step was turning off screens earlier. Since my days often run long, I tend to wind down with a little bit of YouTube that can stretch too long if I’m not mindful, so keeping an eye on the clock and stopping an hour before bed was step one. Step two was immediately starting my bedtime routine, which takes about an hour (floss, brush, dog out, tidy up, shave, besoins, shower, fill up my water bottle, and up to bed).
The second step was setting my alarm earlier. I fell prey to snoozing it a little too often, so I started plugging it in downstairs where I would be forced to get out of bed to turn it off. By the time I’m down there, I might as well stay up, right? But stumbling around in the dark for my workout gear often provided an opportunity to sneak back to bed.
So I habit stacked (a method in the book). Habit stacking looks like this: “When I [existing habit] then I immediately [new habit].”
I already had a night time routine full of little habits to stack. So when I took out my fresh underwear and hung it by the shower, I also took out my gym clothes for the next day and laid them out on Cooper’s kennel. Once I put on running socks, I’m 99% likely to stay awake.
The other thing I started doing was chugging my water bottle, which is mostly full from the night before. That’s over 500ml straight out of the gate, and you’d be surprised how much it helps wake you up (I read about taking an ‘inner shower’ in the morning somewhere and it really helps).
Because the night time routines are set, adding another little one is as simple as “When I [take out tomorrow’s underwear] then I immediately [also take out my gym clothes and lay them out].” It makes the morning routine easier, and making it easier makes it more likely to stick. “When I [turn off my alarm] then I immediately [chug my water bottle].”
It’s amazing how quickly the good habits can stack up if you give it a chance.
The biggest perspective shift in reading the book this time around was how much more I believed in it. Whether intentionally or not, I’ve modified a lot of my habits in the last few years and have seen steady results. Enough so that I want to commit more fully to improving them and building up new ones.
One final, helpful line was that no one can be perfect. The goal isn’t “never miss a day.” Missed days will happen. When you do, just commit to make sure you don’t miss a second. That’s the start of a new habit.
What seemed outlandish or off-putting (like habit tracking or positive self-talk) now seems like exactly what I should be doing (if I’m not already doing it). Where I used to feel like I had to earn everything by doing it the hard way, I understand that the easier I can make it for myself, the more likely I am to succeed.
It was a touch less aspirational and a touch more affirming (I wanted to write affirmational but I’ll let spell-check remind me it’s not a word today). If you haven’t gotten Atomic Habits yet, I’d highly recommend it. It’s an easy read, it’s inspiring, and there are tons of small ways you can make immediate improvements to your life today.
There’s too much in here for a single book report, but I’m sure we’ll circle back and touch on it again in the future.
Habits I have added and maintained over the last few months:
Practice piano every day
Drink two protein shakes a day (with spinach, berries, and yogurt)
Vlog every day ;D
Read at least 10min every day
Get up at 6:30am and to the gym every morning
When Cooper annoys me, stop and say one thing I’m grateful for
Each of these habits have had cascading positive effects. It makes for amazing motivation when you see it all building up. I’m going to get writing and drawing back in there every day as well.
What habits are you looking to add or drop?
OMG, I’ve been sitting on this book for over two years. Maybe 2024 is the year I finally get to it!
PS- how can sweet little Cooper ever be annoying?