The Road to Better Habits, Updated and Expanded: A simple framework for transforming your habits

by Darius Foroux

Modern life feels like you’re going on a walk, but it’s super crowded outside and random people are pulling you in their direction.

Good habits serve as a shield against the forces that are trying to pull you in a direction you don’t want.

Studying success is often a waste of time because it can cause tunnel vision.

a habit is positive when it improves the quality of my life.

Elimination is the key here. Be very clear about what you want to achieve every single day, week, and year. Every day, work on 3-4 essential (and small) tasks that will bring you closer to your weekly and yearly goals.

Nothing will make you happier than being grateful for what you have.

If you’re alive and live in a free country, it’s like hitting the jackpot of life.

need to remind myself every single day that I should enjoy the now.

“What time is it? NOW.”

Journaling is also an excellent tool to become a better thinker and person. Writing every day is the most important habit that I have formed in my life.

The reason that we don’t do anything useful with our precious time is that we lack self-discipline.

when you write for yourself, you’re trying to convince yourself of your own thoughts. So the more you write, the better you become at persuasion.

When you force yourself to write every day, you automatically become more aware of your thoughts.

when you write about your decision-making process, you will automatically become more aware of the “why.”

Writing every day will demonstrate the power of compounding like very few other things can.

a permanent lifestyle change requires time and energy.

You must improve your focus muscle first.

“Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people’s weakness.” That’s from the Stoic philosopher Epictetus.

It’s not healthy behavior because you never focus on one thing at a time.

Epictetus. He explained his point further: “If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest.”

use your phone mindfully.

If you want to use social media, use it to connect with people. Not as a replacement for books, articles, or Wikipedia.

Information is generally about data, facts, or statements. Knowledge is usually about applying certain information to a specific cause.

When you acquire knowledge, you do it with intention and a specific focus.

meditation. It helps you to manage the negative chatter in your mind.

Focus on that one habit and once you’ve achieved more control over your attention, adopt other habits.

Professional athletes set the bar really high in terms of intensity and the amount of time they exercise. But they also focus on very simple things.

After improving his free throws, he started working on his advanced techniques, then strengthening his body, then his speed. The most important thing about his strategy is that he didn't try to improve everything at once.

a good habit is easier to sustain when we start small — then increase our efforts over time.

Always remind yourself that you want to stay fired up. Because when things get hard, we can lose that fire.

“A new habit should not feel like a challenge. The actions that follow can be challenging, but the first two minutes should be easy. What you want is a “gateway habit” that naturally leads you down a more productive path.”

When you haven’t even started something, the result seems a million miles away.

So instead of focusing on the BIG outcome, focus on the SMALL start.

The goal is not only to get started — it’s to keep going.

Life is a competition with yourself — not others.

everything we do that doesn’t have a positive return is a bad habit. Sometimes, it’s what we don’t do

Laziness is when you feel fine, and you’re not sick or anything, but you just don’t feel like doing anything.

Simply put, anything that prevents you from being useful is a bad habit.

you’re more likely to actually form a habit when you focus on ONE habit at a time.

Falling back on bad habits happens for a reason. Life is hard. We experience setbacks, stress, and hurt all the time. And our natural reaction is to escape our challenges.

We need to take care of our bodies and minds.

Once you’ve identified your bad habits — which I’ll talk about later in this chapter — decide to quit them ALL. And decide that RIGHT NOW.

We can achieve many great things in life. We only need the right habits to support us.

a big part of being productive is about getting rid of unproductive habits we all have.

When you’re always cynical and stubborn, you’re sabotaging yourself.

When you’re in good shape and eat well, your work will reflect that.

What’s the outcome of checking? Nothing. So I stopped doing it.

Don’t believe the stories. People just want to make you believe they became successful without effort. Set a goal, and then work towards it.

If you keep saying yes, you’re living someone else’s life. Think about it.

Say no to a million things and yes to a few things that matter.