The Awesome Power Of Small Habits

Reading time: approx. 6 minutes

Hey Brothers,

I’m Len. Welcome back to the LenDentonThrive Letter. 

This week, let’s talk about change.

Specifically, how to make change happen in your life. And, how to make those changes permanent!

This applies to all kinds of change you might be interested in making - from being more fit, or maybe being a better partner, or even becoming wealthier.

Change is really important to the concept of thriving! To operate at our maximum potential (my functional definition of thriving) we will be in a near constant state of change toward personal improvement across multiple areas of our lives.

To thrive implies that we need to become change experts. So, let’s explore the process of change, and how to become better at it.

The Challenges of Change

Our behavior is controlled by the software installed in our heads. That software is comprised of our thoughts and beliefs, as well as things like training and experiences. It all works to comprise a sort of mental map that we use to navigate our daily lives. This map controls our daily behavior - whether that’s good or bad, desired or not desired!

So, if we want to change our behavior, we simply need to change our mental map. This sounds easy, but its not!

Most guys are really bad at change. I think there are several reasons for this:

• We can be uncomfortable with change and the uncertainty that it brings, so we avoid it.

• We may associate change with past failures, and thus believe that change is not realistic for us.

• We may have been mis-guided or ineffectively trained on the best ways to create change… basically, we’re using the wrong approach to change.

Here’s what I mean by being mis-guided on the best way to change. Most of us were told that the best way to change was to set challenging (even lofty) goals. Then, we needed to put every ounce of willpower and energy we had into achieving that goal.

One of the most common examples of this kind of goal setting is our annual New Year’s resolution. Every year, millions of guys make the resolution that “this will be the year that I get into shape, or lose weight. So they sign up at the local gym and start working out as hard as possible. But, statistics show that most of these resolutions are over within weeks, and guys have drifted back to their old habits, feeling the failure. This is how NOT to do change, but its what we know and we keep trying to make it work.

Or, we just stop trying all together!

But, there’s a better, more effective way to change.

How We Change is Changing

I spent most of my life following the approach to change that I described above. And, like most people that follow that approach, my success was mediocre at best. I’d set the high goal, then exhaust myself trying to attain it through a combination of massive willpower and effort. The results were mixed. I succeeded occasionally, but failure was a more common outcome.

Then, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear.

This is an excellent book that turns the entire habit-change paradygm on its head! I’ve read the book twice, and I’ve recommended it to hundreds of friends and newsletter readers. And, I recommend that you add it to your reading list as well!

The book is filled with proven ways to make change easier to accomplish. The following are four of the principles that I found most effective. Let’s explore them through the context of running a 10k race as a desired outcome.

1 - Tiny Habits Over Big Goals: Instead of setting big, lofty goals, focus on creating small habits that you can easily perform. For example, rather than setting a goal to run a 10k, you might start by creating a habit of going for a daily walk. Walking is an easy way to start and will help you build the repetitive nature needed to train for a 10k. As you progress, increase your walks, and mix running/walking into the mix. Stack tiny habits together to create greater leverage. For this example, this might look like adding daily habits to improve your nutrition to support your 10k objective.

2 - Systems Over Goals: Rather than focusing on your goals (outcomes), choose to focus on the systems (processes) you need to achieve the outcomes. Clear says: “winners and losers have the same goals. Winners use better systems.” A daily system of atomic (tiny) habits will yield better results and require less willpower than the big goal approach we discussed earlier.

3 - Change Through Identity: Redefine what you believe about yourself (your identity) to accelerate your change. This might look like telling yourself often that “you’re becoming a runner.” Or, “as a runner, I don’t skip training days.” Now, every time you complete one of your tiny habits, you’re voting for your new identity (the person you are working to become)!

4 - Small Daily Improvements : small improvements lead to massive results. Improving just 1% a day can lead to a 37x improvement in just a year! James Clear calls these tiny improvments the compound interest of self improvement. (If only we could see these levels of compounding in our financial returns!)

Tiny habits, repeated daily lead to massive returns in improvement.

My Atomic Habits (Fitness)

I have my own version of Atomic Habits that have helped me become more fit. They have evolved over time as I’ve learned more and found what works best for me. Today, I have a set of six daily habits that make up my Fitness ThriveCode. Here’s a quick overview of all six:

1 - Eat Smarter - our nutrition is the single most important aspect of our health and fitness. We can literally change the way we look, the way we feel, and how long we’ll live by changing the way we eat. We can make food work for us, but to do that we must eat intentionally. That means choosing foods that support our health and avoiding foods that can wreck our health. I began by eliminating sugars from the foods I chose, and ate more wholesome foods. I call this Eating Smarter, and I’ve written about this extensively here, here, and here. Change your food, change your life!

2 - Meal Planning - I learned early on that it’s easier to avoid calories than to burn them off through exercise. A quick meal planning session in the morning (5 minutes or less) allows me to plan healthy meals and snacks so I don’t get caught later with only bad choices. Just 5 minutes of planning can save you 500 calories every day. Learn more about the benefits of meal planning here.

3 - Daily Weigh-ins - a very smart guy (Peter Drucker) once said: “If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” He was initially talking about business practices, but it turns out to be almost universally true. It’s especially true for losing weight and getting fit. I do a quick weigh-in every morning and record the weight in my Fitbit app to track it. There is some real mind-magic (neuroscience) behind watching the trends in your weight. See what I mean here. This might be the most important 1 minute of my ThriveLife!

4 - Get My Steps - exercise is an important element of any fit lifestyle. Walking is my primary form of exercise. In the early days of my ThriveLife, it was my only form of exercise. (Yes, I lost 70+ pounds without running or lifting!) I call this Moving Smarter. Learn more about Moving Smarter here, and here.

5 - Build Muscle -  (Training Smarter) - as I learned more about building and maintaining lifelong health, I added muscle-building to my daily practices. Maintaining muscle mass is important, especially for Over-50 Guys like me. Sarcopenia, the gradual loss of muscle mass due to aging, is a real issue. Weight lifting and strength training are effective ways to build muscle mass and counter this natural loss. Today, I use bodyweight exercises and barbells to do daily strength training at home. Learn more about Training Smarter here.

6 - Sleep Better - getting more and better sleep is the newest addition to my smart daily practices. Today, it is a work in progress and is my #1 health and fitness goal. In recent years, I’ve learned a lot about the importance of getting at least 7-9 hours of quality sleep every night. Memory, cognition, stress management, and even weight loss are affected negatively by poor sleep practices. Today, I’m focused on getting 7 hours of sleep every night. Read more about the importance of sleep here.

Now It’s Your Turn

To thrive, we all must change. The better we learn to change, the quicker we’ll begin to thrive.

The tiny daily improvements that result from practicing your own atomic habits will compound over time to become your own massive personal success. This approach can work across any area of your life. The sooner you begin, the greater the reward will be.

So, where do you want to go? Who do you want to become?

Remember, God loves you. He wants you to thrive. Let’s go!