The Art of Habit Stacking: Small Shifts, Big Changes
I’m sure you’ve heard that a healthy lifestyle isn’t about finding the right diet and exercise program, it’s about creating healthy habits that support your ideal happy and healthy lifestyle.
Unfortunately, even knowing this crucial bit of information isn’t enough to actually make it happen. Too often we going into changing our habits with too much effort, quickly feel overwhelmed and give up on execution.
We make promises to ourselves to eat better and move more. We buy a fancy water bottle thinking it will make us want to drink more water. We join a gym assuming the guilt of paying for a membership will be enough to motivate us to show up. We spend money on new skin care products, or house cleaning products, or a new workout wardrobe believing that all we need to do is have the right tools to get the job done once and for all.
But that’s not how it actually works.
Improving Habits Doesn’t Happen Overnight
If you’re overwhelmed by the idea of overhauling your lifestyle, here’s something you need to know: you don’t need to spend any money or make big promises to yourself that you probably won’t keep. You just need to find ways to make small changes and incorporate them into the life you’re already living.
This is why I love the idea of habit stacking, a method James Clear teaches in his book, “Atomic Habits“.
Habits are something we create over time, not by sheer willpower, but by making them a part of our life.
We’re all busy and adding one more thing to the to-do list that requires extra physical and mental effort is not going to help. However, we also all have built-in routines that we do every day like make coffee, or go to the bathroom, eat food, or buckle our seatbelt. Things we don’t even think about as habit, but they are.
Once we identify daily habits that are already in place, we can use those habits to help build new ones, like taking 3 deep breaths to help calm our nerves every time we wash our hands after using the bathroom. You’re already standing still, doing a mindless task. You can take that time to criticize the new wrinkle in your brow, or you can close your eyes and take three deep breaths. I don’t know about you, but I’d choose the latter!
Why Habits Stacking Works
Habit-stacking encourages us to add new habits to habits we already have, ensuring that they are easier to implement. For instance, if you want to drink more water, don’t just buy a new water bottle and hope it helps you drink more, even if it’s the kind with time markings and words of encouragement on it. Instead, find times during your day that you already have a routine and add drinking a glass of water while you do it.
My favorite habit-stack is to drink a glass of water while I’m making my coffee every morning. Making coffee isn’t something I put off, or avoid doing. It’s something I love and look forward to when I wake up. Because I know I’m going to do that joyful task every day, I simply make sure I drink a cup of water while that coffee is brewing. Simple as that! I’m already in the kitchen. I don’t need to do anything special except to fill a glass with water and drink it. Simple, right?
I also have a glass beside my toothbrush. Brushing teeth already happens twice a day, so water naturally followed. (I drink before brushing to avoid rinsing off the fluoride from my toothpaste too soon.)
What’s even better is that when we start making these micro-choices, they tend to have a ripple effect. One healthy choice begets another, sometimes intentionally, and other times simply as a result. For instance, by drinking more water, I feel less anxious and more calm, so I’m not seeking “bad” habits to help cope. Seriously! It’s crazy how improving one simple habit can improve other habits, too!
Ready to get started?
Here are 3 steps to make it simple:
1) Identify an anchor habit
Something you do without thinking: making coffee, checking email, feeding your pets.
2) Add a tiny action
Drinking water while the coffee brews or stretch after shutting your laptop.
3) Celebrate
Give yourself a little “Woohoo!” to release dopamine and cement the habit.
Remember, small steps accumulate. Before you know it, those tiny shifts will transform your life—no drastic overhaul required.
Let’s do this!
If you’re ready to provide your employees with a wellness program that creates life-long change, schedule a free strategy session with me and let’s get to work!