Happily Hack Your Habits

There’s two types of people in this world: people who feel excited and hopeful about the relatively small changes they need to make in order reach their goals – and people who feel overwhelmed and defeated by the thought of the big results that feel so far away.

The latter folks are going to struggle until they find a different way to perceive the process, so let’s try and break that down.

A few years ago, an old friend of mine posted a fantastic article about habits – little, everyday things that really do add up to complete life changes – that really hit home. Small incremental changes (that compound over time, a la James Clear) are the only way I find that my clients can hold on to healthy behaviours without sliding back into bad habits. They help people fall in love with the process and the satisfaction of consistency, without feeling overwhelmed by the end goal.

Here are six tips I love the most from the article above, with my commentary added:

1. Drink a glass of water every morning when you wake up. Guys, the ONE thing that each and every one of my clients gets on their meal programs is the admonition to drink at least 2.2 litres (75 ounces) of water per day. It matters.
2. Eat fruit or vegetables with every meal. With nutrition, think about adding more produce and protein before you think about taking things away. It works, not only from a weight loss perspective but for your mental game as well (our brains work better on incentive bonuses rather than punishments).
3. Sit in silence for a few minutes every day. I downloaded Buddhify this year and haven’t looked back – almost every day, I make time for a 5-15 minute meditation session. It reenergises and focuses me as much as a nap or a coffee might otherwise have done (though truth be told, I still love my naps and coffees when poss!).
4. Respond to all invitations and opportunities with, “I’ll check my calendar.” Too many times my default response is “sure!” simply because I want to come off agreeable, participatory and helpful – only to find that I’ve painted myself into a corner in terms of my schedule. Take a beat before you find yourself plugging in time-sucks (or events that you know are going to tempt you off track) that don’t align with your long-term goals.
5. Write a thank-you note every week. I am decent about writing handwritten notes for gifts, but not so good about writing them for abstract gratitude (of which I have plenty!). Step one is buying cute cards you’re excited to give; step two is leaving them directly in your line of sight (a stack at home, a stack at the office…) so you have no choice but to pen ’em up.
6. Get on two wheels. I used to own a bike but it wasn’t really a “commuting” bike – it was for racing. In Singapore they have these bike-sharing programs where you can literally just pick up a bike off the street, scan it with your phone, and pay a nominal fee ($1 per half hour) to ride it where you need to go – I love to just grab one when we’re out with the kids, flexible on time to get to work, or to cycle to errands/lunch dates/yoga classes when possible.

There are so many teeny-tiny ways to improve your overall health (and yes – I am always talking mental as well as physical), and most of them are manageable, stackable, fairly low-risk to start, and dare I say…even fun.

So if you’re feeling crushed under the weight of a BFG (big f*cking goal), take a beat, take a breath, and try breaking down the pieces into smaller habits you can execute and enjoy – starting now.