The Anatomy Of A Perfect Habit Loop

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I'm a big believer in the power of habits. I believe in them up to the point that I can see how every single major circumstance in my life was determined by them. All the things that suck were created by small repeated actions ... and all the great things by a few keystone positive habits.

Right now, I'm focusing on doing four rituals daily.

These are:
#1 - Waking up early.
#2 - Exercising in the morning.
#3 - Working for a specific number of hours.
#4 - Intense studying.

Guess which one of these stuck the best? Guess which one stuck with a 95.7% completion ratio?

Not studying. Not working. Not waking up early. But the exercising. The one that I despised the most in the start is the one that I've done with almost 100% completion. Since I've started, I've missed it only twice and I'm not talking about 5 minutes of exercising but rather 30 minutes, medium - high intensity.

Why?

Well, because the way it is designed, it is a perfect habit. It is more of a lucky coincidence than design though but this habit serves as a great case study on how every single habit should be designed.

Here's why.

#1 - Starting point. I know exactly when I need to do it. I don't need to decide. If I do it after showering, I need to change clothing and shower again. So I do it exactly after I wake up. It is convenient, I can shower afterwards and get dressed in normal clothes.

#2 - It is specific. I know exactly what I need to do. I will fire up FitStar (it is an Fitness app) and do two routines, one of 20 minutes and one of 10 minutes.

#3 - It doesn't give me any choices. FitStar choses exactly what I must do. It is an app that designs your workout based on your feedback. So if I do 10 push-ups and I mark it as too hard, then the next time it will be only 8.

#4 - It provides me with diversity. Every single day is different. Some exercises are repeated (actually, most of them are repeated as there are 15 in total or so) but they are in a different order and duration. Today I may have back and legs. Tomorrow I may have arms and chest.

#5 - It rewards me. At the end I'll get some nice badges and it will improve my stats. It's not much but some computer code tells me that I've did a great job. Works for me.

#6 - It is convenient. I don't have to search on Google for an workout. I'll just fire up the application, click on the start button, let it for a few seconds to load and start.

This is simply a perfect feedback loop. It is brilliant. I'm in love with it. I want to break it down and build all my habits around it. Numbers don't lie. I'm not a person that enjoys exercising. Before this app, even if I used to go to the gym, exercising at home was a hassle. It was something in the area of "let's do five push-ups, let's take a 10 minute break, let's leave this for tomorrow".

I can't take the credit for it but I'll surely steal the principles behind it. And what are these principles? When trying to develop a habit / ritual, however you want to call it, make sure you ...

#1 - Do it at the most convenient time, where there is zero resistance. If there are other things that you need to do in order to facilitate the habit, it will be harder.

#2 - Make it predictable. The worst time to take decisions is when you must actually do it. Plan beforehand and just follow those steps.

#3 - Make it strategic. Each part must facilitate the other. It is similar to the Pomodoro technique. If you would work non-stop, you would get tired fast or simply lose focus. By taking a small five minute break even 25 minutes, you can create a self-balancing feedback loop.

#4 - ... make it a self-balancing feedback loop. For every part that consumes resource, add a part that regenerates resource. In exercising it is training and pause. In work it is 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of pause. In relationships it is spending time with the other person and spending time alone. Pluses must be balanced with the minuses. So if you want to work eight hours day, also add a two hour period for yourself, watching a movie, spending time with your loved ones, etc. Otherwise, your feedback loop will practically consume itself.

Best regards,
Razvan
#anatomy #habit #loop #perfect
  • I figure developin' the habit of flexibility gonna work for exercisin' in a world incapable of genuine stasis or routine.

    True, you gotta set your own orbits of stuff or you gonna become a dysfunctional bundle of unproductive random, but it is easy to fall in love with idiosyncratic routines an' blind yourself to how they run contrary (in an accidental, not proactive kinda way) to emergent planetary rhythms.

    Nonea this applies to chocolate rituals btw.

    Ever.
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    Lightin' fuses is for blowin' stuff togethah.

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