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  • What's going on guys?

  • Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.

  • Welcome to part two of the Atomics Habits, by James Clear, book summary.

  • If you haven't already, be sure to first watch all of part one.

  • Link is in the description below.

  • Now, here's the part that you have been waiting for, the actual four steps to create good

  • habits and end bad ones.

  • Now, these four laws we can use to create good habits.

  • The first law applies to your cue and it's to make it obvious.

  • The second law applies to the craving and that is to make it attractive.

  • The third law applying to the response is to make it easy.

  • And the fourth law, applying to the reward, is to make it satisfying.

  • Now, to break bad habits, we simply invert these four laws.

  • So, first, we make it invisible.

  • Second, we make it unattractive.

  • Third, we make it difficult.

  • And fourth, we make it unsatisfying.

  • Here's something that may surprise you, the cues that spark our habits are often so common

  • that they become invisible to our consciousness - the phone next to you while you study, the

  • remote control next to the couch, the cookies on the counter.

  • Our responses to these cues are so hardwired that we must begin the process of behavior

  • change with awareness.

  • James provides an example of the Japanese railway system of Pointing-and-Calling as

  • a safety system where workers literally point and call to their various cues, like a signal

  • being green, thereby, bringing it to their conscious awareness.

  • It seems silly, but it greatly reduces errors.

  • And in the operating room, we do the exact same thing with Time Out.

  • Prior to any incision, the surgeon leads the health care team in verifying the patient's

  • medical record, name, date of birth, procedure, what side of the body the procedure is being

  • done and the medications being administered prior to incision.

  • Another important aspect to making habits obvious is what Clear calls an implementation

  • intention.

  • Here's the formula, I will do a certain behavior at a certain time at a certain location.

  • Specifically describing the exact action you will take at a specific cue will greatly increase

  • your chances of success.

  • For example, at 7 A.M., I will meditate for five minutes in my living room.

  • I personally use habit coupling or habit pairing, which is synonymous to what Clear calls habit

  • stacking.

  • This is essentially, associating one habit which I consistently perform with a new one

  • that I'm trying to built.

  • For example, I stretch every morning without fail but my meditation isn't as consistent.

  • By coupling the two, I'm much more likely to meditate every single day.

  • Here's the habit stacking formula, after this current habit I will do this new habit.

  • The application of this is quite broad, but to be most effective, the cue should be highly

  • specific and immediately actionable.

  • For healthy eating, you can sayWhen I serve myself a meal, I will always put veggies

  • on my plate first.”

  • The second law is to make it attractive.

  • We know that dopamine is the neurotransmitter most implicated in pleasure and addiction.

  • But it isn't just associated with the experience of pleasureit's also released when

  • you anticipate pleasure.

  • This anticipation is what gets us to take action.

  • So, how do we use this to our advantage?

  • Temptation Bundling.

  • You're more likely to find a behavior attractive if you get to do one of your favorite things

  • at the same time.

  • For example, I love the TV show Top Gear (and now the Grand Tour).

  • And I tell myself that I can watch it as long as I want, but I must stretch while doing

  • so.

  • Here's the equation for Temptation Bundling, after a current habit, I will do this habit

  • that I need.

  • And after I do this habit that I need, I will do the habit that I want.

  • Let's say you want to cut down on your Instagram use.

  • After I pull out my phone I will do 10 burpees, that's the need.

  • And after I do 10 burpees, I will check Instagram, that's your want.

  • It's key to also be aware of the importance of our family and friends.

  • You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

  • We don't actually choose our earliest habitswe imitate them.

  • The closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate some of their habits.

  • A person's risk of becoming obese increases by 57% if he or she had a friend who became

  • obese.

  • In light of this, one of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is

  • to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.

  • I've spoken about the power of language before in my book summary of Stick With It.

  • The author called it neurohacks.

  • James provides an excellent example.

  • Swap the wordhavewithget”.

  • Instead of saying “I have to exercise”, say “I get to exercise”.

  • “I get to make breakfast.”

  • “I get to wake up early.”

  • It's a subtle nuance, but it makes all the difference.

  • The mindset determines how pleasurable or painful the experience isnot the actual

  • experience itself.

  • A huge one for me that actually transformed my perception of public speaking was reinterpreting

  • my physiologic response from fear to excitement.

  • Yeah, my heart is racing, but not because I'm scared to speak, but because I'm so

  • excited to speak!

  • The third law is to make it easy.

  • People often ask me how long it takes to cultivate a new habit.

  • Is it three weeks?

  • Two months?

  • When will I be done with creating a habit?

  • Well, habits form based on frequency not time.

  • It's not a question of how many weeks for a habit to stick, but rather the frequency

  • and number of repetitions that make the difference.

  • Over time, it should get easier and easier, but there's no magic duration at which that

  • happens.

  • Rather than brute forcing, making the habit easy and effortless is much more likely to

  • work.

  • To do this, we want to reduce the friction of good habits and increase the friction associated

  • with bad habits.

  • Now, consider your environment.

  • Reduce the friction of working out by joining a gym that is on the way home from school.

  • Even better, set out your workout clothes, shoes, gym bag, and water bottle the night

  • before.The greater the friction, the less likely the habit.

  • It's amazing how little friction is required to prevent unwanted behavior.

  • Simply moving my phone to another room or out of sight drastically helps me focus when

  • studying or doing Pomodoro's.

  • US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven has an excellent speech on the importance of making

  • your bed.

  • The reason is simple.

  • Habits are like the decision trees.

  • If you're able to start off the day with good choices that reinforce good habits, you're

  • much more likely to end up having a good day.

  • These decisive moments are what determine the quality of your daynot your willpower.

  • If you go to McDonald's for lunch, you're much more likely to eat something unhealthy

  • than if you went to Tender Greens.

  • Realize that a habit must be established before it can be improved.

  • Don't try perfecting your habit from the start, just try getting it to stick.

  • Oftentimes, we are overzealous with our new habits and overdo them, burning ourselves

  • out.

  • For example, let's say you understand the benefits of daily journaling and want to implement

  • that.

  • If you expect yourself to write too much, it quickly feels like a chore.

  • The key is to stay below the point where it feels like work.

  • The fourth and final law is to make it satisfying - to keep you coming back for more.

  • Generally speaking, what is rewarded is repeated, and what is punished is avoided.

  • We call that operant conditioning.

  • Unfortunately, we operate in a delayed-return environment and many of the habits we wish

  • to ingrain aren't immediately satisfyingthey pay off only in the long term.

  • And as humans, we exhibit time inconsistency, meaning we value the present more than the

  • future.

  • A reward that is certain right now is typically worth more than one that is merely possible

  • in the future.

  • But this bias to instant gratification often leads to problems.

  • With bad habits, the immediate outcome usually feels good, but the ultimate outcome feels

  • bad.

  • And with good habits, it's the opposite.

  • So, how can we use our evolutionary machinery to our advantage?

  • Simple.

  • Add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run and

  • a little bit of immediate pain to the ones that don't.

  • Immediate reinforcement is particularly effective when dealing with habits of avoidance, which

  • are behaviors you want to stop doing.

  • Eventually, you'll experience intrinsic rewards, like increased energy or better mood.

  • At that point, you'll be less concerned with chasing the secondary reward.

  • The identity itself becomes the reinforcer.

  • Incentives start the habit.

  • Identity sustains the habit.

  • I was excited when I read that.

  • One of Clear's top tips is to measure progress and make that progress satisfying through

  • the use of habit trackers.

  • I have personally used several over the years, and I've found them to be crucial objective

  • forms of measurement.

  • I can't lie to myself about how many times I went to the gym last weekthe data is

  • all there.

  • And when I get a streak going, I don't want to break it.

  • My personal favorite is HabitShare, which allows you to share your habits with friends

  • for accountability.

  • Habit tracking is powerful because it uses multiple laws of behavior change.

  • It simultaneously makes a behavior obvious, attractive, and satisfying.

  • One of my favorite things about habit tracking is that it keeps you focused on the process

  • and not the result.

  • You're not trying to bench 3 platesyou're focusing on the type of person that lifts

  • 5 times per week.

  • That being said, there are some issues with habit tracking.

  • It feels like an extra step, like more work.

  • To get around that, here are a few tips.

  • First, automate the measurements whenever possible.

  • I bought a smart scale that automatically syncs with my phone.

  • It measures my weight and body fat percentage in just a few seconds.

  • It's not the most accurate, but it is very precise, which is actually more important

  • in this use case.

  • Second, manual tracking should only be done for your most important habits.

  • And third, record the measurement after the habit occurs.

  • Using stacking in this manner makes you much more likely to actually track the habits consistently.

  • It is inevitable that you will miss days.

  • You won't be perfect.

  • I guarantee it.

  • Whenever you skip, the key is to remind yourself of simple rule: never miss twice.

  • Missing one workout happens, but you can't let yourself miss two in a row.

  • It's never the first mistake that ruins you.

  • It's the spiral of repeated mistakes that follow.

  • Missing once is an accident.

  • Missing twice is the start of a new habit.

  • If you're serious about changing your habits and thereby changing your life, I recommend

  • you watch our book summary on Stick With It.

  • Another book covering a scientific process for changing your habits.

  • Link in the description below.

  • Thank you all so much for watching.

  • Shout out to my patreon supporters that help make videos like these possible.

  • If you too would like to video chat with me every month or get access to my exclusive

  • commentary for each video consider supporting us on patreon.

  • It allows me to keep creating these videos on YouTube.

  • What habits are you working on creating or breaking?

  • Let me know down in the comments.

  • If you liked the video please press that thumbs up button and subscribe so that you don't

  • miss any of our new videos.

  • If you didn't like it let me know with a thumbs down.

  • Thank you all so much for watching and I will see you guys in that next one.

What's going on guys?

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