Atomic Habits: Start small (1/4)

Anyone who's bopped along with Linkin Park's oeuvre would be familiar with the song, "Breaking the Habit", particularly those who have habits that need changing. But when it comes to actually breaking bad habits, or nurturing good ones, many tend to falter. Why? Well, maybe...

• The goal or aim was too vague or broadly stated. Goals need to go deeper than general statements such as "I will lose weight" or "I will stop smoking". How would you go about it? What will you change about yourself that will enable you to achieve that goal? What are the steps you will take to make those changes? Without some kind of plan, you'll be groping in the dark for answers.
• Inconducive situation or environment. Getting fit is a goal many share, but if solutions such as gyms and sports facilities lie beyond reach or at inconvenient spots while good food (with loads of fat, salt, sugar or flavourings) is everywhere, all the very best. And how to quit smoking if you keep hanging around your colleagues who light up after lunch? Wait, don't write that resignation letter. There are ways to get around this...
• No incentive to continue after a while. When hurdles such as goal-setting and access to facilities are conquered, ploughing on after a while seems like a chore, especially when changes or improvements cannot be noticed. Over time, one's determination slumps as efforts grow more tedious. Eventually, one takes the easy way out: quit for the day. There's always tomorrow ... and tomorrow ... and before you know it, you quit entirely. The dismay that follows might discourage you from ever picking up the baton again.
• No course correction and accountability. Often, goal-meeting are solitary quests. What happens when you backslide or "quit for the day" more and more often? Who or what do you have that keeps you honest or steers you back on track when you go astray? We tend to overestimate our discipline and determination in meeting milestones. Without a self-correction system in place, staying the course will be even harder.

So what's the solution? Instead of a grand call to action and big plans, perhaps one approach would be to start small.

Habits expert James Clear claims to have a blueprint for building good habits and breaking bad ones, with the goal of achieving your potential. It involves making small incremental steps that will help you reach your goal. That blueprint is elaborated, explained and rationalised in his book, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad ones.

"Too often, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action," Clear states. Whether it is losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning a championship, or achieving any other goal, we put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement that everyone will talk about."

That pressure for massive action and the expectations that raises is perhaps why the goals we set seem daunting and unreachable. So why not break a goal down to smaller, achievable milestones? However, keep in mind the goal reaching each milestone is supposed to bring you closer to.

"We often dismiss small changes because they don’t seem to matter very much in the moment," Clear writes. Saving RM200 each month, for instance, won't make you a millionaire. "We make a few changes, but the results never seem to come quickly and so we slide back into our previous routines."

Clear argues that the effect of these small changes will only be noticeable once a certain threshold is crossed, which could take a while – too long for many. "It’s a hallmark of any compounding process: the most powerful outcomes are delayed. This is one of the core reasons why it is so hard to build habits that last."

"Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations," he reminds.

More about Atomic Habits will be shared here, as we take you through the principles of habit-forming and habit-breaking in this book, so stay tuned.