"Atomic Habits" | Part 3 of 3
We discussed the importance of small habits compounded over a long period of time and the process of creating habits in the last two articles. You can read that here and here if you haven’t. As we talked about, creating a habit consists of 4 steps: Make it Obvious, Attractive, Easy and Satisfying. We’ve gone over the first three, so let’s go ahead with the fourth and final step.
The 4th Law: Make It Satisfying
We’re programmed to repeat behaviours that reward us in some way. To get a new habit to stay, you need to make it rewarding in some way which is immediate. The reward can be small so that you don’t get bored of the reward itself.
Track your progress when trying to integrate a new behaviour so that you have evidence of the good work you have done if you ever feel unmotivated to keep going.
You can also keep yourself accountable by talking about your new habit goals by talking about them to your friends or peers, so that you have an additional motivating factor to keep at it.
These 4 steps, when reversed, can help you break habits. You need to punish those behaviours by making them invisible, unattractive, difficult and unsatisfying. And you need to remember you need to keep acting how you should even when you don’t feel like doing it. Habits are built by repetitive action and that can only be achieved when you create a disciplined life. Creating better and better habits will always be an ongoing process, since there are always bigger and bigger mountains to climb. What got you from Point A to Point B would rarely take you from Point B to Point C and further.
And I suggest you eventually read the book yourself too, so that you can take away from the points I could have missed. So, stay disciplined, keep improving, and read more articles from me here. And do let me know if you want a specific topic covered! Subscribe for free to receive more posts like this every day!