23 Building Healthy Habits
“Many people think they lack motivation, when what they really lack is clarity. ”
–James Clear “Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results
Creating good habits for mental health and wellbeing is a life long pursuit. Research is increasingly showing that it is small baby steps that are well planned and suit your particular lifestyle and personality that have the best likelihood of being successful.
Purpose
This activity will help participants articulate a specific wellbeing goal that they would like to incorporate into their daily life and create a realistic plan to implement their vision.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
- Explain James Clear’s four atomic habits steps.
- Identify a small, realistic wellbeing activity that they would like to include in their daily life.
- Write a “failure pre-mortem” for their goal. ( If, in 6 months they failed at their goal, what would have been the obstacles to their success).
- Write three “If . .. . then statements” to prepare for their plans in dealing with obstacles.
- Write a wellbeing goal with a specific time line and steps. (what, when, where)
- List a support person that they will talk to about their goal and check in with weekly.
- Reflect on what worked with the wellbeing plan and what obstacles were experienced and tweak and adjust the plan as needed.
- Reflect on ways they can acknowledge and celebrate small wins.
Activity Directions
- Discuss with group if they have ever made a personal goal or New Year’s Resolution. What was their experience in fulfilling that aspiration? If it worked for them, what were their success strategies. If it didn’t work out, what got in the way? The facilitator might want to share a story of their own successes or struggles with implementing a new action or habit.
- Watch James Clear’s video on Atomic Habits together: Atomic Habits James Clear The first time ask participants to watch the video with the goal of noticing how Clear’s approach is similar or different from their way of implementing goals. Discuss as a group.
- Watch again and this time ask the group to take notes about the aspects of his approach that they find most interesting and useful. Discuss their main points and post the four atomic habits steps on a flip chart or screen.
- Choose an action: Ask each person to choose a small wellbeing habit that they would like to incorporate into their daily life.
- Write: In their notebooks or reflection journals, have each participant write a “Failure Pre-Mortem” for their goal. If in six months they have failed to implement this change, what were the obstacles and problems that got in the way of their success? What is their life like with this habit unfulfilled?
- Write three “If . . . . . . , then . . . . . ” statements that problem solve ways of dealing with obstacles:
Examples of “If . . . . . .Then” problem solving statements:
“If my phone goes off while I am practicing my guitar, the next day I will leave it in a different room or turn the ringer off.”
“If I sleep-in and don’t go for my morning walk, then I will make time to do my walk on my lunch break.”
“If I miss my Duo Lingo language lesson one evening, then I will set my alarm ten minutes earlier the next day and do it first thing in the morning.”
7. Action Planning: Create a behavior plan that includes what, when and where: What is the specific action that will make you 1% better tomorrow? When will you do it? Where will you do it?
8. Environmental Assessment: Is there anything you can do to make your environment encouraging of your new behavior? This might be having your gym bag packed and ready the night before. Or, having all your art supplies ready and waiting for you to start your drawing. Or, clearing your calendar and telling family or room-mates that you will be focussing on your writing project for two hours and prepare them that you will not be looking at your phone or answering knocks on the door at that time.
9. Small group discussion: Break group into triads to discuss their action plans. What kind of identity would they have if they practiced their chosen habit for the next six months? If they continue to get 1% closer every day towards their goal, who will they become?
10. Accountability Buddy: Have each person identify a support person (or team) that will help them reach their goal. Saying their plan out loud to someone and having them check in with them each week can help with problem solving challenges and celebrating successes.
11. . Regular check-ins on goal and plan. If the participants of this group meet regularly, the following meetings might start with people sharing how they are progressing towards their 1% better plan. This can also be a time to brainstorm some “If . . .. . then” problem solving statements to overcome obstacles to staying with the repetitions of the new atomic habit.
Examples of identities formed by repetitions of new habit:
“I have consistently written something most days for the last six months. I am a writer.”
“I have gone walking most days for the last three months. I am an active, healthy person.”
“I have proved to myself I am a musician because I have been practicing the guitar four times a week for three months.”
“I have a 300 day streak in DuoLingo. I am a language learner”
A Recipe for Sustained Success in Building Healthy Habits
Changing your beliefs about yourself isn’t nearly as hard as you might think. There are two steps.
1. Decide the type of person you want to be.
2. Prove it to yourself with small wins.
Note: I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to start with incredibly small steps. The goal is not to achieve results at first, the goal is to become the type of person who can achieve those things.
For example, a person who works out consistently is the type of person who can become strong. Develop the identity of someone who works out first, and then move on to performance and appearance later.
Start small and trust that the results will come as you develop a new identity.
From: James Clear how-to-stick-to-your-goals-creating-identity-based-healthy-habits/
Goal Writing Excersise:
- Write a goal with specific, realistic steps and times.
” I will go the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 – 8 for the next four weeks.”
“I will get 8 hours of sleep and will be in bed by 11:30 five nights a week.”
“I will not check social media from 9:00 p.m.– 11:00 p.m. while I am completing my homework.”
2. Talk to someone about your goal and ask them to check with you on how you are doing at sticking to your plan (mentor, instructor, counsellor, room-mate, friend – find your allies who will help you succeed.) We are more likely to follow through with our goals if we have told someone else about our intentions. For some goals, like physical activity, it can help to have a buddy who will go with you for walks or to the gym as you are less likely to back out of your planned activity if you know someone else is waiting for you and counting on you as their fitness partner.
4. Create a weekly schedule that includes time for your goal activities and post it by your desk or work area.
5. Print off monthly calendars for the next six months and post them where you can see them. Everytime you complete your atomic habit, put an X on the calendar date. As James Clear states, after a few days the visual X marks give you a sense of satisfaction and you do not want to “break the chain.” (There are other Habit Tracking tools for both paper and digital ways of keeping track of your successes. Brain science says we get a small hit of dopamine everytime we mark down that we have completed an action that we have committed to).
Here is an article that explores the pros and cons of many different habit tracking tools:
habit-tracking-methods-which-one-how-to-track-habit
You could have different individuals or small groups try different tracking methods and report back with a review on their app or strategy.
Example of Habit Tracker
“After listening to James Clear’s You Tube Video about Atomic Habits, I started tracking habits. The top three on the grid have been in place and pretty consistent for several months, so I was ready to add a new baby step. I wanted to start a habit of meditation and wanted to start small so I could feel successful. I started with 5 minutes of meditation a day.
Filling in the square each day and creating a design gives me a dopamine hit and I become motivated to keep the visual pattern going.”
Optional Extension Activity:
Create a collage, poster or inspiration card. Encourage participants to create art that reminds them to stay committed to their plan. Posting it in a study area or on the fridge or mirror can provide a daily reminder of the new identity you are working towards.
Remember:
“If you believe you can change – if you make it a habit – the change becomes real.”
– CHARLES DUHIGG, Author of “The Power of Habit”