Habits

Aristotle tells us: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a HABIT.” It’s not about living at your best every once in a while. It’s about rockin’ it day in and day out. Making it who you are. A habit. That’s what this class is all about. We’ll help you identify and install your #1 keystone habit while learning how to tap into your superpowers and create habits that will change your life.

“Algorithm.” Yuval Noah Harari tells us that it is the most important concept of the 21st century and that “we should make every effort to understand what an algorithm is, and how algorithms are connected with emotions.” Ray Dalio echoes this perspective and tells us that algorithms will be the most important language for us (and our kids) to learn. Psychologists have been talking about algorithms for awhile as well. They call them “if-then implementation intentions”—which are the secret sauce to using your willpower wisely to install habits that run on autopilot. In this class, we tie that all together and then talk about some practical ways to apply that wisdom to our lives so we can program ourselves wisely and have fun seeing just how awesome we can make our lives. 🤓

BJ Fogg founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on the science of behavior change. In this book, he introduces us to the core elements of his Fogg Behavior Model as we learn that habit change doesn’t need to be as hard as we make it. As BJ tells us: “We are not the problem. Our approach to change is. It’s a design flaw—not a personal flaw.” Big Ideas we explore include the three elements that drive behavior (B = MAP!), the ABCs of Tiny Habits (Anchor + (Tiny) Behavior + Celebration!), the power of anchor prompts (After I (ANCHOR), I will (NEW HABIT), and the power of celebration (get your Shine on!).

James Clear has a super-popular website (jamesclear.com). Millions of people visit it every month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his email newsletter. After reading this book, I can see why. He’s a great writer and distills the essence of habit formation into, well, its fundamental components—the “atomic” structure if you will—while showing us how those TINY little incremental improvements add up to MIGHTY results. I rarely say a book is a must-read but this one’s as close as it gets. Big Ideas we explore include: The math behind 1% gains compounding over a year (and a decade!), navigating the Plateau of Latent Potential (ever given up on a habit? Take note!), the importance (and etymology) of our Identity (get this: it *literally* means 'repeated being ness'), The 4 Laws of Behavior Change (remember: cue + craving + response + reward and... make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying), and the Sorites Paradox (can a single habit change your life?).

Darren Hardy is the Publisher of SUCCESS magazine and knows a thing or 1,000 about success. It's all boiled down into this little manifesto on The Compound Effect. The equation? Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE. In the Note, we'll check out the power of compounding and how to welcome Mr. Mo to the party and create your greatest life.

Jeff Olson is a down-to-earth, super practical (and successful) guy who believes in the power of turning simple disciplines into massive success. He calls that power “The Slight Edge.” In the Note, we’ll explore Big Ideas ranging from the anti-quantum leap and making course corrections to the habits of a slight edge master and how to create optimal plans.

How’s your habit-building process working for you? If you’ve stalled a few (hundred?) times, Stephen Guise tells us that Mini Habits might be just the thing you’re looking for! In the Note we look at what a Mini Habit is and how to go about rockin’ it exploring Big Ideas like making habits stupid small (aka “too small to fail”), embracing Newton’s 1st law, and being aware of ego depletion as you create your chain!

You want to be superhuman? Tynan tells us it's *all* about the habits. I agree. And this book is a genius little manifesto on how to rock it. In the Note, we'll look at some Big Ideas on the basic mental mechanics of installing habits that'll help you reach your potential. Keys: focusing on consistency (!), using your mistakes to your advantage, getting rid of negative habits and focusing on the finish line as you rock the process.

Atul Gawande is a surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He’s also an extraordinary, best-selling author of a number of books. Short story: Want to get things right? Use a checklist. Sounds too silly to work but… It does. Period. Big Ideas we explore include two reasons we err (ignorance + ineptitude), what to do about it (checklists!), how to reduce your Masterpiece Day mortality rate by at least 47% (checklists!), why Van Halen doesn’t like brown M&M’s (checklists!), and your Big 3 Keystone Initiative (checklist!).

Habits. They’re powerful. And, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is a very cool look at why we have them, how they work, and what we can do to change them. The book is an incredibly well-written, fun read and it’s packed with great stories and wisdom and I think you’ll dig it. In this Note, we’ll take a quick peek at the basic aspects of a habit loop (cue + routine + reward), how you can get a cue, what a keystone habit is (and why you should care), the importance of believing you can change and the fact that every habit is malleable. Fun!

Admiral William H. McRaven is a Retired U.S. Navy SEAL who served for thirty-seven years and commanded at every level. As a Four-Star Admiral, his final assignment was as Commander of all U.S. Special Operations Forces. (During this time, he oversaw the covert mission that killed Osama bin Laden.) In 2014, he gave the commencement address to the graduates of the University of Texas at Austin. Millions of people wound up watching his speech on ten lessons he learned from his Navy SEAL training. This book takes a deeper look at those ten lessons. It’s a super-quick read—packed with simple, yet profound wisdom along with moving stories of moral exemplars. It's FANTASTIC.