A method for sticking to habits

So it's that time of year again. Everybody's talking about all these crazy new habits they're gonna start implementing in 2020 because in 2019 you weren't living your real life. In 2020 though, that's gonna be the real you. That's gonna be the fully torqued [ __ ].

It's pretty much a meme at this point that nobody follows through with their New Year's resolutions; at least 99.9% of people don't. You might make it two to three days in, two to three weeks in, if you're lucky. But despite this fact, it doesn't stop millions and perhaps even billions of people all around the world from fantasizing about being a new and reinvented version of themselves in 2020.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer or anything like that, but this type of thinking generally doesn't work, and there's a very specific reason for this. One of the coolest studies I've ever come across showed that when human beings think of their future self, even themselves tomorrow, the same part of the brain lights up that lights up when we think about other people. So we view this future version of ourselves as someone else entirely.

If we have a certain amount of mental resistance to going to the gym today, we assume that this other person, this future version of ourselves, won't have those same obstacles. But when we get to that point in time, because it naturally progresses forward, we are still encountered with that exact same resistance. And if you think about it, this is exactly what we do when we fantasize about being this awesome person in 2020. We imagine this different person who is more motivated, more energetic, better judgment, and better everything than we do right now.

To think that we're going to be a different person with more motivation tomorrow than we are today is kind of done. But to be fair though, some people do hype themselves up so much about New Year's that when January first hits, they actually do have motivation to get out of bed. But the thing about New Year's is like January 1st is super clean, right? But that cleanness, the effect of that fresh slate, starts to wear off extremely quickly.

So if you actually want 2020 to be the year where you finally figure things out in either one or multiple areas of your life, then you have to take it seriously. You have to have a game plan. One of the things that's really helped me implement a new behavior long term is to deconstruct the behavior that I'm trying to implement. This strategy is especially important if you're trying to implement something significant like quitting smoking or going to the gym every day.

Let's use smoking as an example, but feel free to replace smoking with anything that you're thinking of. So first, what you want to do is write down what are the benefits that quitting smoking will bring to my life. Then write down what are the benefits that smoking currently gives me. This one might sound weird, but there's a reason why you're smoking—not you, but there's a reason why you're doing a negative habit. It does give you something, whether that's entertainment, or maybe it makes you feel good, or maybe it's an escape.

Try to figure out why you do what you don't want to do. Next, write down the negatives that will happen if you don't quit smoking. Think about the future. What will a future look like potentially if you don't quit smoking? And then finally, write down what are the negatives that you'll encounter by quitting smoking. Use this question to dive into the obstacles and struggles you're likely to face along the way of quitting smoking.

Now let's break out of the smoking example and try using working out instead. What are the negatives that you'll encounter by implementing working out every day as a habit? Well, some of the negatives are that it'll be super uncomfortable for you early on. Another negative is that you're gonna have to encounter and overcome the mental resistance and the rationalizations to not go to the gym.

Another obstacle that you might encounter is that you might be more tired all the time for the first couple of weeks. But anybody who's been to the gym for long periods of time knows that it will eventually make you more energetic throughout the day. Usually, any habit worth implementing is a little bit of a struggle at first, and you really should take the time to dive into what are some of those obstacles that you need to overcome.

That way, when you're confronted with these obstacles, it's not some huge surprise. By meditating on these questions, you can really start to uncover the real reasons why you want to quit—reasons that are a lot more powerful than it being January 1st or something like that. Having this short journal on hand is also extremely useful for figuring out whether you're ready or willing to actually implement this behavior, or if you should take on something a little bit smaller.

But if you are ready, then this journal is also extremely useful for looking back on when you're in the thick of it, maybe a couple days or weeks or months into this new habit, and you're starting to get discouraged or fatigued. You can always look back and remember why you started and what life was like beforehand, and the benefits that you are expecting to achieve and whether or not you're achieving them.

I guess what I'm trying to say with this video is that if you're thinking of implementing a new habit or lifestyle into your life, there's probably a really good reason why, and that reason is unique to you. It's up to you to bring that reason or that multitude of reasons to the surface by writing it down, and let this writing serve as the adequate ammunition that you need to power your lifestyle long-term, regardless of what day or month or year it is.

But yeah, that's pretty much it. This video is a little bit more of a quick video because I'm not at my usual house; I'm at my parents' place. But before you go, I would really recommend you check out the best book on habits I've read this year by far, using today's video sponsor, Audible. A big thank you to Audible for sponsoring this video.

If you're someone who generally struggles to implement new habits into your life, it's hard to get new activity to stick, then I highly recommend "Atomic Habits" by James Clear inaudible. This is by far one of the best books I've read this year. I recommend the Audible version specifically because it's narrated by the author, and that always adds a lot more personality, and you can connect to the book a lot easier.

For those of you who don't know, Audible has the largest selection of audiobooks on the entire internet. Every single month, you can download one audiobook of your choice regardless of price, absolutely free, along with two Audible Originals. And if you don't like the audiobook, you can easily exchange it at any time for a different audiobook. If you cancel your membership, you still keep your entire library of audiobooks.

So to get started with your 30-day free trial, hit the link below, visit audible.com slash better ideas, or text better ideas to 500500. One more time, click the link below, visit audible.com slash better ideas, or text better ideas to 500500.

If you liked this video, make sure to hit like because when you hit like, the algorithm blesses me by shoving this video in front of other people's faces, helping them out and helping me out in the process. It's a win-win. Hopefully this video saves some people from failing their New Year's resolutions like two days in.

Also, if you're lurking here, consider subscribing and hitting the bell icon so that you don't miss future uploads, and you can join that notification gang, and I can heart and respond to your comments, etc., etc. I just want to say thank you for an awesome year. The growth on this channel was crazy. I did not expect us to have almost 500,000 subscribers by now; that is wild to me.

I really want to find new ways to kind of up the production value and share my ideas in a more effective way. So thank you so much for your continued support. I am really looking forward to 2020 and all the adventures it's gonna bring. It's gonna be the craziest year by far; I can guarantee you that. But yeah, that's all for today. Thank you for watching, and we'll catch you in the next decade.