Habit building 101 ǀ Secrets to starting and sticking with new habits


There are three key ideas when it comes to building a new habit. Whether it is learning an instrument or starting to do your revision regularly these techniques will aid you in doing so.

The key idea, introduced to me by Matt D'Avella (the king of building habits?) is that you can never miss two days in a row. Missing one day is fine. Missing a day, doing a day then missing a day is fine. But missing a day then missing another day - back to back - is not. Applying this has led to me stopping far fewer new habits I'm trying to build and I believe if you stick to this the habit will stick.

The next key point. especially when starting a new habit, is to write it down and also write down what time you are going to do it. Making sure to keep the timing consistent is important so it sort of becomes part of your rhythm.

Next, at least initially, make it supper achievable – for me this meant working out from home instead of making the effort to have to go to the gym. Once you have developed the easy part of the habit, actually doing exercise, you can progress it further if you wish.


Finally remember that it takes at least 7 days in a row of something for your brain to actually start doing it subconsciously. It takes just 25hrs of doing something to become better than average and for a lot of things, like exercising, it takes about 3 months for other people to notice the results of your habit building. Also remember that it takes 10,000 hrs of doing something to become an expert. That is well over a year of just doing that one thing. So patience is key if you truly want to become good at anything. But if you have the patience, and can put into practice the tips, you can be well on your way. The sooner you start the sooner you'll reach that 10,000hr mark.

After all to build a habit consistently in the first place, you actually have to start doing it first.

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