Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you’ll call it fate – Carl Jung

Our habits are our repetitive patterns. They are automatic and invisible and can be constructive and destructive. If aligned to our goals, they move us closer to our desired future self, day-by-day. Conversely, they move us gradually away if not aligned. The British Cycling team termed this ‘marginal gains’ – getting 1% better every day by a relentless focus on small tasks that accumulate to achieve transformation.

Forming positive habits is a key theme that my clients bring to sessions, whether it’s around leadership, productivity, well-being, or career development. It’s appealing because big goals can seem just that – too big and overwhelming, leading to faltering motivation to even get started. Habits start with practical small steps and can serve you day-to-day to achieve the big…the change and future you really want.

Sounds easy, right? Well, pause for a moment and list your habits throughout the day. Not so easy, is it? Added to this, humans find delayed gratification difficult – our habits are a choice between what we want now and what we want in the future, and we are always tempted by immediate pleasure.

This is why it’s great territory for coaching, where I support, challenge, and hold my clients to account for the changes they commit to.

How do we build effective habits? I work with my clients using Atomic Habits by James Clear as a guiding framework with 4 ‘laws’ for habit formation:

MAKE IT OBVIOUS

-Before you can reset your habits, you need to build awareness of what they are. Keep a simple record of existing habits and whether they are positive, negative, or neutral in relation to your goals
-Using this awareness, commit to new/altered habits through clear intentions that are written down and shared for accountability
-Make cues around you obvious and visible – you are a product of your environment, so use it help shape the habits you want

MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE

-We are social creatures – being in a positive culture can help. Join a group that supports your habits – if you want to read more, join a book club
-Do something you enjoy before a difficult task – listen to your favourite music before tackling that tricky board report you’ve been delaying

MAKE IT EASY

-Ensure you can do any new habit initially in 2 mins, stopping procrastination and getting you started. Once established, scale up
-Reduce friction to focus on your new habits – turn off social media notifications and block diary time
-Use apps to support forming new habits more easily

MAKE IT SATISFYING

-Track your habits to see the benefits and recognise progress through rewards
-Focus on how far you’ve come. Use visual prompts to reinforce this – every time you complete a daily habit, add another paperclip to your ‘habits’ chain

How do you form effective habits?