The art of the habit
I listened to an interesting podcast the other day on forming habits and it really resonated with me. It was from Storybrand and it was an interview with James Clear, who wrote "Atomic Habits".
I think of the habit I've formed of writing every morning over the last year. I wanted to get better at writing and I heard that starting a blog was a good way to do that. And part of having a blog was to just write something every day. So, for over a year now, almost every morning I write a post on my blog. This might take 15-30 minutes max... sometimes less, but I rarely miss a day.
The thing I liked about the podcast though was the encouragement to not set these high and lofty goals but to start with something really easy. For example, I'm going to the gym and I'll work out for 5 minutes and go home. The goal is to make a habit of going to the gym, not to kill yourself for an hour. You want the experience whatever it is to be positive and then you want to build on it as it becomes part of your routine.
I think of this as I look at becoming a better photographer, writing a book, getting in better physical shape, etc. I want the end product, but what I really should do is think about what little thing I can start to help get there.
I think of the habit I've formed of writing every morning over the last year. I wanted to get better at writing and I heard that starting a blog was a good way to do that. And part of having a blog was to just write something every day. So, for over a year now, almost every morning I write a post on my blog. This might take 15-30 minutes max... sometimes less, but I rarely miss a day.
The thing I liked about the podcast though was the encouragement to not set these high and lofty goals but to start with something really easy. For example, I'm going to the gym and I'll work out for 5 minutes and go home. The goal is to make a habit of going to the gym, not to kill yourself for an hour. You want the experience whatever it is to be positive and then you want to build on it as it becomes part of your routine.
I think of this as I look at becoming a better photographer, writing a book, getting in better physical shape, etc. I want the end product, but what I really should do is think about what little thing I can start to help get there.