The Habit Hacker's Guide to Building Better Habits: Start Small, Think Big, and Be Consistent

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle

The thing I find the most disheartening when it comes to hearing from people who have the desire to look a certain way but never reach their goals is the fact that they never got to leverage the power of time. Every year by the time March rolls around the gyms become much more spacious.

Most people quit before they ever give themselves the chance to ingrain a routine that’s automatic and specifically designed to make them look like someone they admire. Most of our lives are run on automatic pilot, but what isn’t talked about enough is that we can program into ourselves what we want that automatic pilot to look like. Once you create the habits that are self-serving it’s only a matter of time before you get what you’re striving for.

Think about the habits you have now whether they are positive or negative. How many of them were intentional habits and how many of them were things you just picked up without really noticing? Have you ever given much thought to the idea of intentionally creating habits rather than just picking them up throughout life?

The beauty of it all is that we have the ability to form habits that are self-serving rather than self-sabotaging. We must first start by understanding what actions you need to take on a daily basis to move you towards your goals.

I’ve always loved the saying “success leaves clues,” because it is such a simple but powerful truth. The next time you are faced with a decision just ask yourself, what would someone fit do? Then do that, and repeat it again and again.

The reality is that your habits today are the reason for the way you look now and for the way you will look a year from now. If I were to wave a magic wand and give you the body you desire exactly how you envision it, whether it’s big arms, sculpted shoulders, 6-pack abs, a nice toned butt, or all the above. Would you be able to maintain it a year from now? What would you have to be doing differently in order to keep the results you were given?

Without acting like the kind of person who has all those things you would never be able to keep it and therefore you would never get it in the first place. Unless you change the things you do daily. The secret to your success is going to be found in your daily routines and rituals. If you don’t have them now that’s okay, because I will go over 3 different strategies to set yourself up for success. It’s never too late to start.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the second best time is now.” -Chinese Proverb

Start small and slowly increase over time

When you’re first starting to exercise you actually have a big advantage over those who have been training for years. Within the first six months you will have the greatest ability to get stronger and build muscle, we call this period the noobie gains. No matter what you do in the gym you are going to improve at a much faster rate the someone who has been at for five years.

Sure, you may feel more sore at times and you will probably find it more fatiguing but it’s really all in your head because it doesn’t have to be that way. More experience will just desensitize you to the post-workout fatigue and soreness. We all feel it, we have just learned to love it.

Let me reiterate my previous statement that it doesn’t have to be that way. Can you get your dream body without being sore or tired? No, there’s no way around it but we can do it in a way that is very tolerable and even enjoyable.

If you can get stronger and build muscle with the least amount of effort why wouldn’t you do that? When I get a new client I want their first couple sessions to be so easy they are practically asking for more. That is a very good place to be because they are slowly buying into the process.

Leverage the fact that no matter what you do you’re going to get better. In the beginning, a small step actually covers a lot of ground on your journey to the ideal body, and taking bigger steps does not necessarily get you there that much quicker. In some ways it may actually deter you.

Here are some actionable steps:

1. Start with 2-3 times per week exercising. Pick one you’re comfortable with and stick to it. Whether it’s two or three doesn’t matter for fitness but it does matter for mindset.
2. Decide how long you’re comfortable with and keep that number regardless of how you feel. One day you may be feeling great and the gym is easy, DON’T go over your time. Keep the number at 30 minutes or under, once you hit it it’s time to leave. Stay rigid on this time for at least one month.
3. Have a mix of different exercises and modes of training. Meaning, spend some time stretching, on cardio equipment, and on weights and machines. So that could mean 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, and 10 minutes there. Once 30 minutes hits you’re heading out the door. If you picked 20 or 15 minutes adjust the minutes per exercise accordingly.
4. After one month reassess how much you can increase your exercise. Do you want to keep the number of days per week or do you want to increase the time per session? Again, make a small adjustment, one that does not feel like a drastic change but one that is noticeable and your body recognizes.

Leverage your environment to set yourself up for success.

One of the easiest and maybe the most obvious ways you can maximize your environment is by having a place to exercise regularly. Some important points to consider are where are you the most motivated and what is the most convenient for you. I always recommend people get a gym membership to maximize motivation. Having a home gym will definitely maximize the convenience of working out but more often than not I hear people tell me that they have all the equipment at home but they don’t use it.

Can you relate? If you asked me the same question I would be slowly nodding my head in agreement. Never again will I buy equipment for a home gym because I won’t use it. I like being able to leave the house and be in public to socialize and be a part of a community of people all wanting to better themselves. However, you may be someone who hates going to the gym and would much rather exercise in the comfort of your own space with control over the radio station. If that’s you then have at it.

Are you the type of person who will get stuck on the couch if you go straight home after work? Try packing a gym bag the night before and keep it in your car so you don’t have to head home. Do you not want to wake up early because you don’t feel like you have enough time in the morning? Try pre-setting your coffee machine with a breakfast meal ready to go that way you can get up and out the door within 15 minutes. All of this is easy for me to say but the point is you know yourself better than I do so it’s important to analyze your environment and make the necessary adjustments to suit your lifestyle and preferences.

If you know you’re most likely to talk yourself out of the gym in certain circumstances then pre-plan for that outcome and intervene so that you never have to talk yourself in or out. Make sure your needs are satisfied throughout the day and fit your workouts in where you can. If you set up your environment so that you never have to make a decision that the opportunity to skip will never present itself.

Lastly, make friends with people who exercise often, if you have friends that do then spend more time with them. There is a truth to the statement you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. This is another reason I am a big proponent of getting a gym membership because you will now be surrounded by people who are either really good at exercising or those who are working on becoming very good. In reality, the people who are working on it are the most inspiring to me.

Use Habit Stacking to make your new habits “stickier”

Something you can do to make forming new habits easier is by leveraging the habits that are currently in place already. Habit stacking involves pairing the new desired behaviors you would like to adopt with the things you’re already doing every day. Think about your daily routines right now and consider which ones would sync well with the new behaviors you would like to adopt. This method was created by BJ Fogg and I found it through James Clear author of Atomic Habits. The formula is this “after/before (habit) I will (new habit)” such as;

• After I finish work I will go straight to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday
• After I get back from the grocery store I will make my lunch for tomorrow
• After I prepare my meals I will track the calories
• When I go to work I will park farther away to get more steps
• When I see an elevator I will look for the stairs

According to the book The Power of Habit, our habits are made of three phases that eventually create behaviors that run automatically. The first is the cue, which is the initial trigger that starts the cycle. If you have a tendency to snack around noon then your empty stomach becomes the cue. The second phase is the routine, which is walking to the kitchen or cafeteria. Finally, the snack becomes the reward and satisfies the craving that initially got us up off the couch. The power of knowing this cycle is that once we know our cue we can change the routine and reward.

Use this information along with the habit-stacking principle to start tapping into the routines you already have in place. The longer a certain behavior has been engaged in the deeper it becomes ingrained into our subconscious. We don’t even think about doing them anymore because they are so automatic. The more you can pair these new habits with old routines the greater your chances become of sustaining them into the future.

Summary of main points

1. Leverage time and consistency to bring you the results you desire
2. Start small and build, it will take months to get into shape. You don’t need to do it in 3 weeks.
3. Where do you feel the most motivated to work out? Do that
4. Set your day up to make going to the gym or working out at home as easy as possible. More decisions = more opportunities to skip.
5. Whatever new habits you’re trying to adopt let them hitchhike on the routines that are already established.

Call to action

• Imagine yourself with the kind of body that you admire, what does it feel like? Now I want you to imagine yourself as the person who is doing all the things necessary to achieve it. You’re exercising multiple times a week and eating clean. Which thoughts make you feel the most proud, the result or the dedication and hard work? I can tell you that while the result is sweet and fulfilling, most people I talk to are more proud of the process and who they become. Your body is just a billboard advertising how you treat yourself.