The Catalyst for Change

As a father in his thirties, dealing with daily work and life, I increasingly feel overwhelmed and exhausted. The most frequent entry in my Roam Research daily memos is about how tired I am. Despite learning many methods for energy management, I've never been able to consistently stick with them. Developing good habits is especially crucial at my age. With willpower running low, I can only rely on scientific methods to cultivate habits that suit me. Habits compound over time, and my current state is a reflection of all my past habits. Through studying Atomic Habits, I've learned that forming habits requires the right environment and continuous reinforcement.

Identity-Based Habits

To develop good habits, you first need to understand their importance. Habits are your instinctive responses. With good habits, you can accomplish things without overthinking, reducing the drain on willpower. Forming habits requires ==identity-based thinking==, not just treating them as goals. After achieving a goal, you may slack off, feel empty, or become inactive. But as an identity, it will stay with you forever. Habits help achieve goals, but fundamentally, habits make you become someone—the person you want to be.

Four Steps to Habit Formation

Cue: Make it obvious/Make it invisible

Make the habits you want to develop obvious and visible. Fill out a habits scorecard to better understand your habits, giving you a purposeful way to improve your behavior. Make cues for good habits visible everywhere. Apply habit stacking principles to better establish new habits. Specify implementation details—when, where, and what action. The more specific, the more successful the implementation and habit formation.

Craving: Make it attractive/Make it unattractive

Make the habits you want to develop attractive. Use temptation bundling—pair actions you need to do with behaviors you enjoy. Join like-minded communities, such as Python groups, geek groups, automation groups, or chemistry groups. Create motivational rituals—do something you really enjoy before doing non-routine habits.

Response: Make it easy/Make it difficult

• Reduce friction—minimize the steps required to perform good habits
• Prepare your environment—create an environment conducive to good habit formation
• Master decisive moments—optimize small choices that can have significant impact

Decisive moments set the trajectory for your future self. Entering a restaurant is a decisive moment because it determines what you'll have for lunch. These small choices accumulate, each setting the trajectory for how you spend the next period of time.

Use the two-minute rule—make habits take minimal time to get started. Automate your habits—invest in technology and items that support good behaviors.

Reward

Use reinforcement—reward yourself ==immediately== after completing a habit routine. Use habit tracking—record your habits and try not to break the chain. Never miss twice—if you forget to do it, make up for it as soon as possible.

Applying These Measures to Build My Own Habits

Reading Habit

• Keep my Kindle within easy reach
• After reading, I can browse Inoreader
• Track my reading results with a habit tracker, with a heat map—similar to GitHub's graph
• Can read for just 3 minutes a day
• After completing N habits/focus sessions, buy something I like from my wishlist

Exercise Habit

• Keep a yoga mat in the living room, ready for exercise anytime
• Listen to Clubhouse or watch shows while exercising
• Track my workout results with a habit tracker, with a heat map—similar to GitHub's graph
• Just exercise for 3 minutes a day, no pressure
• After completing N habits/focus sessions, buy something I like from my wishlist