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The Habits Manifesto What we do every day matters more than what we do once in a while. Make it easy to do right and hard to go wrong. Focus on actions, not outcomes.
Willpower, “that people with strong self-control spent less time resisting desires than other people did.… people with good self-control mainly use it not for rescue in emergencies but rather to develop effective habits and routines in school and at work.”
habits eliminate the need for self-control.
Self-control is a crucial aspect of our lives. People with better self-control (or self-regulation, self-discipline, or wi...
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Habits make change possible by freeing us from decision making and from using self-control.
Research suggests that about 40 percent of our behavior is repeated almost daily, and mostly in the same context.
“routine” is a string of habits, and a “ritual” is a habit charged with transcendent meaning.
The first and most important habits question is: “How does a person respond to an expectation?” When we try to form a new habit, we set an expectation for ourselves.
We face two kinds of expectations: outer expectations (meet work deadlines, observe traffic regulations) and inner expectations (stop napping, keep a New Year’s resolution).
Questioners resist rules for rules’ sake.
Questioners like to make well-considered decisions and come to their own conclusions,
Obligers meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet inner expectations.
Obliger summarized: “Promises made to yourself can be broken. It’s the promises made to others that should never be broken.” Obligers need external accountability even for activities that they want to do.
self-sacrifice—“Why do I always make time for other people’s priorities at the expense of my own priorities?”—is often better explained as need for accountability.
REBELS Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike. They choose to act from a sense of choice, of freedom. Rebels wake up and think, “What do I want to do today?” They resist control, even self-control, and enjoy flouting rules and expectations.
Rebels place a high value on authenticity and self-determination, and bring an unshackled spirit to what they do.
Audiences = expectations.
Rebels resist hierarchies and rules, and they often work better with others when they’re in charge.
“Freedom means no limits. To me, a life controlled by habits sounds dead.”
we all share a desire for autonomy. If our feeling of being controlled by others becomes too strong, it can trigger the phenomenon of “reactance,” a resistance to something that’s experienced as a threat to our freedom or our ability to choose.
“Which Tendency makes people the happiest?”
“which Tendency is the most successful?”
The happiest and most successful people are those who have figured out ways to exploit their Tendency to their benefit and, just as important, found ways to counterbalance its limitations.
I’m a Marathoner. I like to work at a slow and steady clip, and I dislike deadlines—in fact, I often finish work early.
Working on projects steadily, over long periods of time, ignites my creativity.
Simplicity lovers are attracted by the idea of “less,” of emptiness, bare surfaces and shelves, few choices, a roomy closet.
I easily feel overwhelmed when there’s too much noise, too much stuff, or too much happening at once.
Finisher or an Opener, we can shape our habits to suit that preference.
Finishers focus on their ability to complete, they may be overly cautious about trying to form new habits; Openers may be overly optimistic about their ability to take on additional habits.
Some people love familiarity; some love novelty.
novelty lovers may do better with a series of short-term activities—thirty-day challenges,
“tiny habits,” a person may begin a habit by doing a single sit-up or reading one page, and by taking these tiny steps start on a path toward keeping that habit.
The habit of the habit is even more valuable than the habit itself;
Sometimes a single unexpected question can illuminate a hidden aspect of my life. A question like “Do you tend to blame other people, or do you blame yourself?” can give me a fresh perspective on myself.
“What are the best habits to follow?”
Daily Rituals—Mason Currey’s
There’s no magic formula—not for ourselves, and not for the people around us.
If we want something to count in our lives, we should figure out a way to count it.
While research suggests that taking 10,000 steps does reduce obesity and heart disease, there’s no particular evidence for 10,000 as opposed to 8,000 or 12,000.
Sleep, as I remind anyone who gives me the opportunity, is crucial for good mental and physical health and a critical time for bodily repair and regulation.
Lack of sleep negatively affects mood, memory, immune function, and pain sensitivity; it makes people more likely to fight with their partners; it contributes to weight gain.
every hour of interrupted sleep during the previous night, people wasted 8.4 minutes in online puttering—checking email, Internet surfing, and
Progress, not perfection, is the goal.
“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
From my observation, habits in four areas do most to boost feelings of self-control, and in this way strengthen the Foundation of all our habits. We do well to begin by tackling the habits that help us to: 1. sleep 2. move 3. eat and drink right 4. unclutter
move. Physical activity is the magical elixir of practically everything.
“Act the way I want to feel.”
Also, although the average meal is eaten in about twelve minutes, it takes twenty minutes for the body to register a feeling of fullness.
outer order contributes to inner calm.
Outer disorder may act as a broken window.
