Daniel Clough

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Habits

Building a baseline

It’s much easier to maintain a baseline than it is to build one.

A few examples:

It’s hard to reach your ideal weight. It requires a lot of consistency around activity and diet. But, once you get there, it’s fairly easy to maintain it with an 80/20 approach. You’d have to have a prolonged period of inactivity and bad eating to reverse things.

It’s hard to get out of debt. It requires you to live below your means and consistently pay off the debt. But, once you get there, it’s easier to stay on top of things. Building some savings often feels easier than getting out of debt.

It’s hard to build up to running a 5K. But, once you get there, you could take a few weeks off and still get one done. Sure, it’d be harder, but it would take months of no running to find yourself in a position where you can’t run a 5K.

Why is that?

Well, need to establish new habits and behaviours to reach a baseline with something. It’s hard to establish them in the first place. But, once you do, it’s easier to keep them going. They become part of your new normal.

Momentum is a part of it too. It’s hard to build momentum. But, once you have momentum, you have to be pretty negligent to lose it.

And then you have the mindset factor. When you’re building towards something, it can often feel impossible to reach. But, when you get there, you have a different relationship with it. It’s no longer such an impossibility – it’s the new normal. Case in point, the 4 min mile.

This is all useful because it helps motivate you to do the hard work that it requires to build a baseline. Remember, it won’t always be that hard.

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Five things I’ve found to be super helpful in establishing new habits

Here are five things I’ve found to be super helpful in establishing new habits.

Make them visible

I have a few key habits that I like to do every day. Eat paleo, eat within an 8 hour window, consume roughly 2K calories, drink 3 litres of water, take my vitamins, and reach out to a couple of people.

I write them at the top of my daily planning page. This forces me to look at them frequently throughout the day – increasing my chances of sticking to them. It also encourages me to reflect on how I did, more than I would otherwise.

Don’t break the chain

I heard about the Seinfeld Strategy from James Clear. It’s surprisingly effective.

It’s as simple as having a wall calendar, and marking an X for every day you stick to your habit. It becomes very addictive to grow the chain, and not break it.

I use this for moderating how much alcohol I drink. I’m aiming for a once a week, with a two drink limit. And for the most part, it’s helping me stay on track.

Keep experimenting

I used to struggle to drink enough water. Then, one day I randomly decided to drink two 500ml bottles of water as the first thing I did after waking. It was a game changer. Not only did it put me at 33% of my daily goal within minutes – it also changed my behaviour. It was really easy to drink a 500ml bottle in one go. So, I just down a 500ml bottle of water each time I want a drink now. And I have the opposite problem – not going too far over 3 litres of water a day!

One at a time

It’s REALLY hard to try and establish multiple habits at the same time. Yet, it’s so easy to fall into this trap.

Be disciplined and pick one. Nail it properly, and then pick another. Trust me, there is plenty of time. If you successfully establish a handful of new habits per year, you’ll transform your life every year.

Start small

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve tried to establish really ambitious habits straight away. Inevitably, I do it for a few days (a few weeks at best), but then fall off the wagon.

Want to drink 3 litres of water a day? Start with a glass. Want to eat healthily every day? Start with just breakfast. Etc.

Then, once you’ve got these small new habits established, you can step it up from there.

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These tweaks made ALL the difference to sticking with a new habit or behaviour.

I realised recently that the smallest tweaks can make all the difference to being able to stick with a new habit or behaviour. This has helped me make some big behaviour shifts in my life recently.

The big question is, how do you find those tweaks?

I used to struggle to drink enough water. Some days I managed hardly anything. Other days I managed a litre or so – but it felt like such a huge effort. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been drinking over 3 litres of water everyday – effortlessly.

How did I do that?

A couple of weeks ago, I pushed myself to drink 1.5 litres within the first hour of waking. I did this by drinking two 500ml bottles back to back as soon as I woke. I then filled up the third bottle and drank it over a handful of gulps.

That small tweak made all the difference.

Firstly, it gave me a quick, and huge head start on my 3 litre goal for the day. By building the momentum so quickly, I felt compelled to build on it throughout the day. Secondly, instead of taking sips, I now found myself drinking 500ml bottles in one go. I just got used to doing that. Why drink it over 10+ gulps, when I can just get it done in one go?

I’ve been trying to get my alcohol consumption in the right place for a long time. I’ve tried thirty day resets before – with mixed success. I’ve also tried to put in place some rules to help me moderate alcohol, but they always break down after a while.

Recently I had another go at a 30 day reset. This time, I put up a chart on the wall, and crossed off every day I didn’t drink.

Seeing that chain grow made all the difference. I found it pretty easy to do the 30 days. I really did not want to break the chain, or the momentum I was building.

So much so that I’ve kept doing it. I’m not trying to do another 30 days. I just want to drink infrequently, mostly on special occasions. I like to see one or two weeks of an unbroken chain building up. It’s so simple, and it’s enough to push back the urges to have a glass or two of wine between Thursday and the weekend. It’s not worth breaking the chain for a minor reason.

I’ve always struggled to consistently take my vitamins. I take a multivitamin, Vitamin C, D and fish oil daily. That amounts to thirteen capsules each day (seven at lunch, and six early evening). Most of the time I just end up forgetting to take them at all, or just remember to take half of them at one point in the day. I’ve tried a few different strategies (leaving the vitamin tubs in obvious places, taking them with certain meals etc.) – but nothing worked.

I placed an order a few weeks ago for some more Vitamins, and I noticed they also sold a pill box. It’s a green box with 6 different compartments in it. I added it to my order, because it seemed a convenient way to bring vitamins with me when I travelled. Then one morning, I put my thirteen capsules into two separate sections in the pill box and left it on the kitchen island. I took them at lunch, and before my dinner.

The process of putting them in the pill box in the morning, and seeing it in front of me alot made all the difference. I am now taking my vitamins everyday – and it’s effortless.

It was the same story with the improvements to my daily planning process. Switching from the morning to the previous evening didn’t feel like a big change to me at the time. But, it’s what helped me pushed my consistency through the roof. It also led to me making other improvements that I wouldn’t have made otherwise.

See what I mean? I’ve been able to be consistent with habits I’ve been trying to build for years – and all it took was some small tweaks.

It made me realise that you have to be patient and curious. You have to be open minded and try lots of different approaches. And often it’s something small, that you may only realise in hindsight that can make all the difference to being able to stick with a new habit or behaviour.

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The counter-intuitive way to get freedom

It’s rare that I read an article and think – I wish I had written that. That’s exactly how I felt after reading Wise People Have Rules For Themselves by David Cain.

I agree with every single word.

It sounds odd to say ‘discipline equals freedom’ – but it does. It’s counter-intuitive. When you set rules for yourself that you know are good for you, it’s actually liberating. It’s a huge relief. You no longer have to flip flop between things that work, somewhat work and don’t work. You lean in towards what works for you. You live a life on your terms.

I’d even go as far to say, if you don’t have many rules for yourself, it’s because you haven’t experimented enough with different ways to live your life. I think this is why people tend to enjoy life more when they get older. When you’re younger, life is a range of options and you haven’t had enough time to figure out what works for you. As you get older, you tend to settle into what works for you.

How do you find out what works for you? Well, for a start you have to develop a philosophy and mindset to be the best version of yourself. You have to try different things – and for a long enough period (usually 30 days does the trick). Sometimes it involves stopping something. Sometimes doing something new, or simply just something different.

You then have to notice how these changes impact your life, and make a decision on how that becomes a part of your life. Or, not.

Here are some rules I have for myself, which make my life better:

  • I eat during an 8-hour window, and then fast for the remaining 16 hours. So, I skip breakfast, and eat between 12.00PM and 8.00PM
  • I drink a maximum of 3 cups of caffeine a day, and they must be before noon.
  • I eat paleo 80% of the time (this is my most challenging rule to stick to) I drink 2 litres of water each day
  • I wake up early (usually for 05.00)
  • My mornings also follow the same structure – Breathe, Think and Do.
  • I spend about 2 hours each weekend, planning the following week
  • I spend about 15-20 mins every evening, planning the following day
  • I finish every shower with 30 secs of cold water
  • Ella and I spend 10-15 mins every Sunday, syncing our diaries for the next couple of months.

I’ve settled on the above rules through a lot of experimentation. And from there, realising that there is a significant net positive to my life by sticking to these rules.

I wish I could say I have 100% consistency with these rules, but that’s not realistic. Some are easier than others to stick to. For example, I don’t have to think about skipping breakfast, or limiting my caffeine to 3 cups before noon. But, sticking to paleo, and drinking 2 litres of water every day – that’s a bit more hit and miss.

I’m experimenting with alcohol at the moment. As of today, I haven’t had a drink for 25 days. My life is SO much better without it. I’m leaning towards giving up forever. Perhaps I will only have a drink on very special occasions, and limit it to three drinks. I’m still thinking about that.

Now, you may still be thinking, that’s a very rigid way to live your life. Loosen up, have some fun. And that’s a valid point.

A good friend sent me a great article the other day – Let Yourself Be Unproductive. At Least for a Little While. I agree with alot of it.

I do think it’s important to have periods where you let go of some, or even all rules. In fact, just to let go of trying to be productive. There’s absolutely a place for building in periods of no structure – where you let go of calendars, tasks lists and rules. And actually, this is often necessary to keep a good balance. It also can be critical to break through key phases of life, or to recharge from intense periods.

Balance is the key word there. Most people are much happier when they have their life well organised as the baseline. More often than not, it’s better to have rules, and a system for how to live your life. That’s your foundation. And from there, you can build in periods of rest and downtime where you see fit.

As I said at the beginning, I wish I had written Wise People Have Rules For Themselves. But, I’ll settle for being able to share it with you, and share some of my rules 🙂

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