
Ask HN: Changing habits - enscr
What&#x27;s the single most effective thing that helped you change your habits or bring drastic positive changes in life?<p>Habits like - exercising OR not eating unhealthy ever OR waking up early OR reading everyday OR no XBOX&#x2F;PS&#x2F;Netflix until you are ramen profitable ... etc. It could be a great book, something someone said, desperation, ... anything that worked for <i>you</i>.<p>(Not looking for a general discource or about.com like articles)
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loumf
BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits. Essentially:

1\. Pick a trigger -- something you already will definitely do at the rate of
the new habit.

2\. Find a version of the habit that takes no cognitive load and can be done
in less than a minute.

3\. Celebrate every time you do it.

The template is: After I X, I will do Y. X must be sure, Y must be small. You
must do it after.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdKUJxjn-R8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdKUJxjn-R8)

I also suggest putting in a system that makes it impossible to not do what you
want. For the games/netflix one, just get rid of them. Don't depend on
willpower -- make a system

[http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230333](http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230333)

For eating right -- journal everything you eat -- no need to track anything
fancy except what it was and you will see results. The magic is that you don't
eat things because you don't want to write it down. If you track one other
thing, put a + or - next to it to indicate whether you think it was a good
choice or not.

~~~
contextual
BJ Fogg's 1, 2, 3 step is known as "anchoring", and I agree it can be
effective in establishing new habits, especially when there is emotional buy-
in beforehand. It's actually an old NLP / hypnosis fix.

Weeding out any friction points while establishing the habit is also important
(in my book INDOCTRINATOR, I call it the "secret ceremony").

INDOCTRINATOR isn't finished yet, but it's available at Leanpub for anyone
interested: [http://indoctrinator.com](http://indoctrinator.com)

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Vomzor
The power of habit by Charles Duhigg. It gives you insight in how habits work.
More specifically, it explains the habit loop. Once you understand habits,
it's much easier to change them.

[http://charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work/](http://charlesduhigg.com/how-
habits-work/)

~~~
enscr
Introduction to the book looks promising. I've shortlisted a few books to look
at.

[http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-The-Habit-Being-
Yourself/dp/1...](http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-The-Habit-Being-
Yourself/dp/1401938094)

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Habit-What-
Business/dp/14000...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Habit-What-
Business/dp/1400069289)

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Willpower-Instinct-Self-Control-
Ma...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Willpower-Instinct-Self-Control-
Matters/dp/1583334386)

[http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-
Hard/dp/0385...](http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-
Hard/dp/0385528752)

[http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-
Motivates...](http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-
Motivates/dp/1594484805)

------
orasis
The most important thing you can do is to acknowledge that will-power is a
limited resource and to instead change / design your environment. Figure out
what the triggers are for the habit you are trying to change and eliminate
those triggers as much as possible.

Cancel cable. Sell your video game system. Don't keep beer, candy, or
processed foods in the house. Commit to a fixed schedule with a personal
trainer. Don't spend time with people who have habits you're trying to avoid.

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ceeK
Seems crazy, but the Lift mobile app helped me a lot. It's focus is around
getting you to "check-in" to your habits with the aim of doing them for 21
days. There's a social factor too, but I feel quite motivated to not break the
cycle after a few days of check-ins.

[https://lift.do/](https://lift.do/)

~~~
enscr
Lift worked well for me for a month and I liked it. But once you start
slipping, the momentum takes down everything. It's a good app no doubt.

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jlees
Signing up to a specific gym timeslot for Crossfit. The combination of social
pressure, financial commitment, no-brainer workouts (variety, someone tells
you what to do, and it works) and getting into a routine mean I haven't missed
a 8am workout slot, 3 times a week, except for travel or illness since I
joined a year and a half ago.

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dome82
Check BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits. Great way to change your habits..

