The MOST important thing to remember when building habits!
Marvelous May has arrived!
This is always the “sweet spot” of the year for me — the time I’m most energized by warm sunshine and longer days 🌻 and have yet to be slowed down by the intense summer heat. As such, May tends to be the month I feel the least amount of friction when it comes to following through with healthy habits. 💪
Wake up earlier? Sure, no problem. ✔ Get more vitamins? Why a morning fruit and veggie smoothie sounds perfect at the moment! ✔
While I know how much easier it is to take action and leverage that extra energy this month, I’m also very aware my motivation and habits fluctuate throughout the year.
And so, how can we build those healthy habits that are more likely to stick over time? 🤔
Today we’re going to wrap up the last of James Clear’s 4 Laws of Behavior Change from his book Atomic Habits.
#4 Make it satisfying. Make it unsatisfying.
According to Clear, this is THE most important of his Laws ( #1. Make it obvious/ invisible. #2. Make it attractive./ unattractive. #3. Make it easy./ difficult.) .
Why? Well, recall the habit loop of : Cue ➡️ Craving ➡️ Response ➡️ Reward
Reward and the potential of reward the actions of all of us human beings. So the biggest key to getting ourselves to repeat a new healthy habit is to find a way to add enjoyment or pleasure to the habit IMMEDIATELY.
Take “getting in shape” as an example- we know this takes time, it takes us repeating healthy habits over and over for a reward we hope to see somewhere down the line, whereas eating junk food gives us an immediate reward of pleasure but might make us feel worse in the long run. Make the healthy habit satisfying now by watching your favorite TV show as you exercise or joining a Zumba class that feels like a party!
Another way to make a habit satisfying is through tracking our habit and seeing our success visually. For instance, if you were to print out our Weekly Planner (shared in KMoves studio) and record your joyful movement each day you’d find some immediate satisfaction 💕 each time you fill out another space. You’ll also be more likely to move for even just the “Two Minute Rule “ rather than skipping your workout altogether! 👊
Finally, we can make our habits more satisfying by having an accountability partner. Teaming up with a friend, coach or classmate who supports our commitment to a healthy habit can help us in those moments when self-motivation is low but we don’t want to break our word to someone else. Taking a few minutes each week to interact in our KMoves studio by sharing our own stories or cheering others on is a great way to make our habits more satisfying!
In the last few weeks’ discussion on James Clear’s Atomic Habits we’ve seen there are real actionable steps we can take to building the healthy habits we desire. While we can’t take out effort altogether ( which come on, would take the joy out of our successes ) we can amplify our effort and increase our chances of following through when we have clarity on how habits are formed.
Of all of Clear’s Laws of Behavior Change, which stood out to you? Were you able to implement any while working towards building a new healthy habit?
Head over to our Private Facebook Group, KMoves studio and share your stories with us! We are here to keep one another moving in May and beyond!
Keep moving,
Katie