Goal setting gets so much attention during the first months of the year, but the truth is that whether you accomplish or fall short of your personal and professional goals largely depends upon your daily habits!
I recently listened to the book Atomic Habits and it opened my eyes to the power of daily habits on my life and business. There was one concept that really stood out to me towards the beginning…
Have you ever heard of habit stacking? The premise of habit stacking is that you take a new habit that you want to develop and “stack it” onto a habit of yours that already exists.
If you’ve ever studied habits, you know that every habit has a cue or catalyst. Either you see something, you do something, or something happens that prompts you to perform the action that has become a habit. For example, when it’s time for bed, I shut off whatever electronics I’m using (that’s my cue!) and then I change into my jammies, go into the bathroom, brush my teeth, and put in my retainer. I don’t even think about it – that’s just what I do before going to bed!
But when you’re trying to form a new habit, there isn’t a “cue” that your mind recognizes to initiate the new action, so it’s up to you to remember and “make” yourself do it.
One way to shortcut that process is to make an existing habit the cue for the new habit.
When I heard that, my mind started racing! How can I stack my desired (goal) behaviors with existing behaviors to make it easier and more likely that I would do it?!
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to walk for 30 minutes on my walking pad 5 mornings a week. But I had to make room in my routine for it because I’m accustomed to waking up, drinking a glass of water and taking my vitamins before putting on something warm and cozy, making myself a cup of coffee, and sitting down to journal.
If I wanted to add walking to that sequence, I needed to create a cue…so I decided that since I was in the habit of going into my back room and changing into something warm and cozy that it would make sense to change into my workout clothes and start walking instead. And guess where that walking pad is? Yep, right next to where I keep my workout clothes! So now my morning looks like: water, vitamins, workout clothes, walk for 30 mins, shower, coffee, and journal.
It worked like a charm! Even though there were a few misses here and there, this was a big win!
Here’s the formula to habit stacking, according to James Clear, author of Atomic Habits:
After/Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].
Here are some tips:
What habits do you need to form to hit the goals that you set this year? What current habits in your life could you tie them to? Your goals are important, so use this technique to help you develop the habits you need to hit them. Happy stacking!
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