James Clear wanted to start flossing, but he never managed to follow through. Despite his best intentions, his dental floss sat unused in a bathroom drawer.
Fortunately, James had learned a thing or two about human behavior and habit formation. As a self-improvement writer, he’d spent hours pouring over scientific data about behavior changes. He decided to apply a few of these concepts to his own quest.
First, he placed the floss on the bathroom counter, rather than tucking it inside a drawer. He made the floss visible.
Second, he realized he didn’t enjoy the tactile sensation of wrapping floss around his fingers, so he replaced it with floss picks. He made the floss more enjoyable.
Finally, he decided to floss immediately after brushing his teeth. He used a technique called “habit stacking,” in which a new habit is more likely to stick if it’s tied, or triggered, by an existing habit like toothbrushing.
Thanks to these techniques, James built a flossing habit. He shares these tactics and more in today’s podcast episode.
James Clear is one of the most well-respected and widely-known thinkers and writers in the world of habit formation and behavior change.
His website, jamesclear.com, gets more than one million visitors every month.
In this week’s episode, we deep-dive into how to create impressive habits and how to break the terrible habits that hold you back
If you’d like to start new habits like exercising, saving more, investing, meditating, journaling, practicing yoga or flossing, but despite your best intentions you can’t seem to make the habit stick, then this week’s podcast episode is for you.
P.S. – Want more tips on setting goals? Download the PDF of my article on how to think about approaching goals.
Resources Mentioned:
- JamesClear.com
- Atomic Habits, by James Clear
- AtomicHabits.com
- Pavlok
- Stickk
- Bee Minder
Thanks to our sponsors!
Gusto makes payroll, benefits, and HR easy for modern small businesses. In fact, 72% of customers spend less than 5 minutes to run payroll! If you sign up at gusto.com/paula, you’ll receive 3 months free once you run your first payroll.
Save time by using Freshbooks, an easy-to-use, cloud-based accounting system that takes the stress and hassle out of bookkeeping and, especially, invoicing. You can create an invoice in a few seconds, and Freshbooks’ automated system will handle the rest. Visit Freshbooks.com/paula for a free 30-day trial. Please mention this show when they ask how you heard about them.
Do you want your money to make more money? Then check out Radius Bank’s free high-interest checking account. You earn 0.85% APY on balances of $2,500 and up – 12x the national average of 0.04% APY! To get started, head over to radiusbank.com/paula!
Beachbody On Demand
Have any fitness goals you’re working toward? Then check out Beachbody On Demand, an online streaming service that gives you unlimited access to over 600 highly effective, world-class workouts. I’ve been using Beachbody On Demand for a few weeks now – the core workout from the T25 program is my favorite. To get a full-access free trial membership, text Paula to 303030.
