JAMES CLEAR: Think this is maybe the real reason that habits matter, is they can shift your internal narrative. So how do I change that mindset about myself? Even though I know that waking up earlier, remembering names, being on time, getting better at math and technology as a business journalist would make me much better in my job. I’m horrible at math.Īnd I almost laughed out loud because I say all of those things about myself. In the book you write that we limit ourselves by saying things like, and then you give a list of examples: I’m not a morning person. And you can sort of trust that the outcomes come naturally if you show up as that type of person each day.ĪLISON BEARD: Yeah, it’s funny you mention the identity piece of it. And then your focus becomes on building habits that reinforce that identity, rather than on achieving a particular outcome. Who is the type of person that could lose 20 pounds? Well, maybe it’s the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. But I think it’s a useful question to ask yourself, who is the type of person that could achieve those outcomes? A lot of the discussion on New Year’s resolutions is about how many books we want to read, or how much weight we want to lose, I’d like to earn more money next year, or whatever it is. It has to become the standard in your life before you can worry about optimizing or scaling it up from there.Īnd then the second thing is focusing more on your identity rather than the outcome. This I think is a deep truth about habits and certainly applies to New Year’s resolutions which is, the habit must be established before it can be improved. I know I actually want to do the workout. Or, do yoga four days a week, becomes take out my yoga mat.Īnd sometimes people resist that a little bit because they’re like OK, I know the real goal isn’t just to take my yoga mat out each day. So, read 30 books next year, becomes read one page. So you basically take whatever habit you’re trying to build and scale it down to something that takes two minutes or less to do. I refer to this as what I call the two-minute rule. The first idea is that a lot of the time we start with goals or ambitions or resolutions that are really big, and simply scaling your habits down, or scaling those behaviors down to something that’s simple and easy to do is certainly a way to be more effective in the New Year to increase the likelihood that you stick with that. JAMES CLEAR: There are a lot of entry points to discussing habits through that. For those of us who make New Year’s resolutions and then quickly fail at sticking to them, how can we do better? James, thanks so much for joining me.ĪLISON BEARD: As I mentioned in the intro we’re about to start a new year, a new decade even. James Clear is an author and entrepreneur and his book is called Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Now and anytime, our guest has some good advice on what it takes to get there. Professionally, maybe it’s to learn a new school or finish a specific project, or attend more networking events. I’m talking to him at the end of 2019, when a lot of us are thinking about our New Year’s resolutions. Today’s guest says there’s simple and easy ways to develop better habits.
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While most of us are slipping into bad habits doing the easiest work first, making gut filled decisions, watching TV instead of studying a new idea, or even getting enough sleep achievers are sticking to a plan and getting more out of their careers and life. But here’s another way to frame it: they’ve developed great habits. Many of these people seem to have superhuman ambitions and work ethics. every day, read a book a week, or have a tried and true system for client outreach or interviewing. It’s something we’ve seen time and time again in the stories of great leaders. Clear is the author of the book Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results.ĪLISON BEARD: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review.
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So if you’ve made a resolution for the new year or have an idea for how to propel your career forward at any time, these strategies will help. Just like saving money, habits accrue compound interest: when you do 1% more or different each day or week, it eventually leads to meaningful improvement. Many people, he says, focus on big goals without thinking about the small steps they need to take along the way. James Clear, entrepreneur and author, says that the way we go about trying to form new habits and break bad ones - at work or home - is all wrong.
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