MEPX
Chapter 3 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What a habit is
  2. 2How long it takes
  3. 3Starting a habit
  4. 4Implementation intentions
  5. 5Environment
  6. 6Breaking a habit
  7. 7Lapses
  8. 8Rewards and tracking
  9. 9Identity and goals
  10. 10Honest limits

Chapter 3 of 10

Starting a habit

Small, specific, attached.

Make it tiny

Reduce the behaviour until it is almost trivial: one page, two minutes, one set. Consistency builds the automaticity, and the size can grow afterwards.

  • Ambitious targets produce a strong start and an early collapse.
  • The goal at first is the streak, not the outcome.

Anchor it

Attach the new behaviour to something already automatic: after I make coffee, after I close my laptop. The existing routine supplies the cue you would otherwise have to remember.