The most important ideas in your typical 300-page book can usually be distilled into several pages. These several pages are the thinner book. The smaller the difference in size between the actual book and the thinner book, the better the book. For example, almost every paragraph in Lessons of history by Will and Ariel Durant contains some profound piece of information. This is no surprise, as the book itself is an aggregation of frequently occurring patterns and ideas the authors identified while writing an eleven-volume series on the history of civilization. It goes without saying, lessons of history is a great book. This post is the first of many where I'll attempt to liberate the thinner books that live within some of my own favorite books.
A habit is a routine or behavior that is performed so regularly it becomes automatic. From a biological perspective, the purpose of habits is to preserve energy by offloading the cognitive effort spent on repetitive tasks from the conscious to the subconscious. As you repeat a certain behavior, the connection between the neurons (the fundamental units of the brain) associated with that behavior become stronger. After enough repetitions, the connection becomes so strong that the behavior is automatic. When Stephen Curry picked up and shot a basketball for the first time, he had to focus on every aspect of the motion: hand position, balance, posture, and release. But after millions of practice shots, Curry can shoot the ball from anywhere on the court without thinking.
When used effectively, habits empower you to become whoever you want in life. A habit of daily reading will eventually make you knowledgeable, a habit of daily exercise will eventually make you strong. The difficult part is sticking with the habit long enough to reap the benefits. You won't develop a wealth of knowledge from reading one book, and you won't get jacked after going to the gym for a week. Only after years of reading will you be able to compare and build upon ideas from different disciplines. Only after months of workouts will you be able to fully activate all the muscles associated with a lift. A 1% improvement every day for a year results in a 37x improvement from where you started. The initial 1 percent improvements are difficult to notice, but after a while they become astronomical. All big things come from small beginnings.
Social media is filled with posts celebrating the achievements of individuals while glossing over the thousands of hours it took them to get there. What we don't see in pictures of Giannis Antetokounmpo hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy are the years of grueling practice that preceded his championship run. We've been tricked into expecting instant results without putting in the reps. To effectively develop new habits, we need to break this mindset and acknowledge that the most powerful outcomes are delayed. We must shift our focus from achievement to trajectory. The strongest man in the world becomes weak if he stops using his muscles. The brightest man becomes dumb if he stops using his brain. It matters not where you were yesterday, but rather, where you're headed today.
Trajectory > Achievements
To effectively build new habits, you need to be aware of the three layers of behavior change:
Identity is what you believe, process is what you do, and outcome is what you get. The reason most people fall short of their aspirations in life is that they are solely focused on outcomes, without considering the systems that lead to those outcomes. Telling yourself "I want to get rich" or "I want to lose weight" will not contribute to either. Only through modifying our identity and processes can we change our behavior and bring about our desired outcomes.
Your behaviors are an expression of your identity. If you exercise every day, you are an active person. If you watch Netflix all day, you are a lazy person. To change your outcomes, you must first change your identity and processes.
To change your identity, start by asking how someone with your desired identity behaves. If you want to become an entrepreneur, ask "Who is the type of person that becomes an entrepreneur?" An entrepreneur is the type of person who creates things. An entrepreneur is the type of person who is willing to fail. An entrepreneur is the type of person who takes risks for what they believe in. Start acting like your desired identity, and eventually, you will become them. Write every day and you will become a writer. Program every day and you will become a programmer. Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
As you've likely noticed, just telling yourself you're going to start doing something is not an effective way to change your behavior. Our brains are energy conservation machines, constantly analyzing the environment for ways to maximize immediate rewards while spending as little energy as possible. Effective processes manipulate your environment so that the energy required for the desirable behavior is less than the energy required for the undesirable behavior. It's tough to eat healthier if your fridge is stocked full of chocolate bars. But by manipulating your environment such that your fridge is filled with fruit and vegetables and eating a Cadbury requires a trip to the supermarket, you've suddenly tipped the scale in your favor. Every goal is doomed to fail if it goes against the grain of human nature.
There are four steps involved in the formation of every habit: