Two years ago, I was fascinated by the impactful stories attributed to ingrained habits when I read the book “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. In it, he recounts countless examples of the negative and positive impacts of the habits we nurture or permit. At the time, I was mostly interested in helping some of my clients break bad habits and negate the harmful agreements they make with themselves. Now, for them, and myself, I’ve been seeking a framework to help inculcate new practices into their lives.
From The Power of Habit, I learned that habits are formed by three elements. First, there is the “Trigger” or “Cue.” Like your phone sending you an alert that your social media post has been liked. The second element is the “Routine.” In this example, you respond to the trigger by picking up your phone and checking your social media. The third element is the “Reward.” When you see that “OMG, 8 people like my post,” you have initiated a complex Dopamine response. Dopamine is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter, and it plays a significant role in the motivational component of reward-motivated behavior. It stimulates the pleasure center of the brain. To cease bad habits, you must eliminate the trigger or disrupt/replace the routine. But what about new habit formation?
In the book “Atomic Habits,” by the renowned James Clear, he illustrates that new habit formation will likely fail if your process fails to consider any one of four criteria. Ask yourself the question: Is my new habit:
- Obvious - The trigger must be self-evident
- Easy - The routine cannot be too hard
- Attractive - The experience must be desirable
- Satisfying - The experience must be fulfilling
I prefer to use this synonymous framework because alliterations are, well alliterations!
- Stack
- Start
- Synchronize
- Score
Simple habits, like doing 50 squats every morning, might only require Stacking and Starting. Stacking is to tie one habit to another. Every morning I take a shower without fail. The water takes 2-3 minutes to warm up. Instead of waiting and checking the temperature, I stack and start my 50 squat routine while the water warms. This is so easy!
More complex habits, like writing a weekly Blog Post, will require all four elements.
On Saturdays, I am usually driving home from spending the morning with my lady Suki. I drive right by my co-working space in Salem. I Stack my writing habit with this commuting habit.
I Start my habit by simply parking my car and walking across the street. If I overthink about the elements of writing the post (conceive, research, draft, grammar check, rewrite, read out loud, rewrite, pick accompanying photo, schedule the blog post, write communicating email, grammar check it, rewrite, read out loud, rewrite, schedule the email) then I will be dissuaded from writing. Once I’m out the car, I am walking up the stairs, I have the momentum.
Then I Synchronize with something I love. In this case, it was easy because I love picking the photo for my Blog. It gives me a chance to go through my personal library of memories. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a collector of ephemera and memories. My digital ephemera collection is a constant source of joy and inspiration.
Finally, I Score. I look at my list of weekly blog posts. I count the number of folks that open them up. I smile. Boom! Dopamine!
Daily habit formation can also benefit from habit tracker apps or just a paper “Bullet Journal.”
What new habit have you started? Does it fit the Four S framework? Let me know.
