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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. By giving something up, we may gain. Things often get harder before they get easier. When we give more to ourselves, we can ask more from ourselves. We’re not very different from other people, but those differences are very important. It’s easier to change our surroundings than ourselves. We can’t make people change, but when we change, others may change. We should make sure the things we do to feel better don’t make us feel
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but why is it hard to form a habit we do enjoy?
Certain situations seem to make it easier to form habits. Which ones, and why?
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.
when we try to use self-control to resist temptation, we succeed only about half the time,
that’s why habits matter so much. With habits, we conserve our self-control.
Of course, it takes self-control to establish good habits. But once the habit is in place, we can effortlessly do the things we want to do.
Habits make change possible by freeing us from decision making and from using self-control.
When possible, the brain makes a behavior into a habit, which saves effort and therefore gives us more capacity to deal with complex, novel, or urgent matters. Habits
Surprisingly, stress doesn’t necessarily make us likely to indulge in bad habits; when we’re anxious or tired, we fall back on our habits, whether bad or good.
shape habits mindfully, so that when we fall back on them at times of stress, we’re following activities that make our situation better, not worse.
Habit makes it dangerously easy to become numb to our own existence.
begin to understand what a huge effect these few patterns have on my life, on my capacity to live. If these few patterns are good for me, I can live well. If they are bad for me, I can’t.
In many ways, our habits are our destiny. And changing our habits allows us to alter that destiny.
“Essential Seven.” People—including me—most want to foster the habits that will allow them to: 1. Eat and drink more healthfully (give up sugar, eat more vegetables, drink less alcohol) 2. Exercise regularly 3. Save, spend, and earn wisely (save regularly, pay down debt, donate to worthy causes, stick to a budget) 4. Rest, relax, and enjoy (stop watching TV in bed, turn off a cell phone, spend time in nature, cultivate silence, get enough sleep, spend less time in the car) 5. Accomplish more, stop procrastinating (practice an instrument, work without interruption, learn a language, maintain a
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Habits make change possible, I’d concluded, by freeing us from decision making and from using self-control.
“habit,” to reflect how people use the term in everyday life: “I’m in the habit of going to the gym” or “I want to improve my eating habits.” A “routine” is a string of habits, and a “ritual” is a habit charged with transcendent meaning.
“good habit” for any habit I want to cultivate, and “bad habit” for one I want to squelch.
We can use decision making to choose the habits we want to form, we can use willpower to get the habit started; then—and this is the best part—we can allow the extraordinary power of habit to take over.
For a happy life, it’s important to cultivate an atmosphere of growth—the sense that we’re learning new things, getting stronger, forging new relationships, making things better, helping other people. Habits have a tremendous role to play in creating an atmosphere of growth, because they help us make consistent, reliable progress.
Intro notes:
1. Self control is depleted when used frequently. the best way to make good decisions is to create good habits. Or brains like to automate things.
2. We can use habits to change our destiny.
3. In times of stress, we lean on habits, for good or bad, as a crutch, so good habits are especially important.
4. Part of finding joy as a human is to feel like we are growing and progressing; habit helps ru accomplish that feeling.
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. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand how we respond to expectations.
outer expectations (meet work deadlines, observe traffic regulations) and inner expectations (stop napping, keep a New Year’s resolution).
four distinct groups: Upholders respond readily to both outer expectations and inner expectations. Questioners question all expectations, and will meet an expectation only if they believe it’s justified. Obligers respond readily to outer expectations but struggle to meet inner expectations (my fr...
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I’d created a habits Sorting Hat.
Upholders respond readily to outer expectations and inner expectations. They wake up and think: “What’s on the schedule and the todo list for today?”
Questioners question all expectations, and they respond to an expectation only if they conclude that it makes sense. They’re motivated by reason, logic, and fairness. They wake up and think, “What needs to get done today, and why?”
Questioners come in two flavors: some Questioners have an inclination to Uphold, and others have an inclination to Rebel
Obligers meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet inner expectations. They’re motivated by external accountability; they wake up and think, “What must I do today?”
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?”
Let him make a decision without an audience. Audiences = expectations.
ways. A Rebel who wants to stick to a budget might say, “I won’t be manipulated by marketers trying to sell me junk,” or a Rebel who wants to succeed in school might say, “No one thinks I can get into a good college, but I’ll show them.”
“If I have to do something ‘every day,’ it guarantees I won’t do it. But if I take it one day at a time, and decide I’ll do it this time, then more often than not I end up with a streak.”
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.
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.
AM I A LARK OR AN OWL?
I'm an owl
Larks, Owls, and everyone in between should consider that aspect of their nature when trying to shape a habit. An Owl shouldn’t bother trying to form the habit of getting up early to study, and a Lark shouldn’t try to fit in two hours of writing after dinner.
AM I A MARATHONER, A SPRINTER, OR A PROCRASTINATOR?
In a sprinter, but I'd like to Sprint smarter. Work in longer chunks of my book once a week rather than a little bit daily.
Marathoner. I like to work at a slow and steady clip, and I dislike deadlines—
Working on projects steadily, over long periods of time, ignites my creativity.
Sprinters prefer to work in quick bursts of intense effort, and they deliberately wait for the pressure of a deadline to sharpen their thinking.
“I prefer to be completely immersed in a project for a short period of time. The work flows better, I can hold my concentration. Spread things out, and the total hours go way up.”
Procrastinators may resemble Sprinters, because they too tend to finish only when they’re against a deadline, but the two types are quite different. Sprinters choose to work at the last minute because the pressure of a deadline clarifies their thoughts; Procrastinators hate last-minute pressure and wish they could force themselves to work before the deadline looms.
AM I AN UNDERBUYER OR AN OVERBUYER?
Just the right amount buyer? I like to get new things, but I don't think I go overboard.
Underbuyers hate to shop and buy; overbuyers love to shop and buy.
AM I A SIMPLICITY LOVER OR AN ABUNDANCE LOVER?
Simplicity lover
Simplicity lovers are attracted by the idea of “less,” of emptiness, bare surfaces and shelves, few choices, a roomy closet.
Abundance lovers are attracted by the idea of “more,” of overflow, of addition, of ampleness, of a full pantry. They always want to have more than enough. They like a bit of bustle, and they enjoy collecting things and having a wide array of choices.
When changing habits, a simplicity lover may be attracted to elimination and simplification—to saving money by cutting off cable TV or quitting online shopping. An abundance lover may be attracted to addition and variety—to making money by starting a freelance career or learning how to invest.
AM I A FINISHER OR AN OPENER?
An opener
