Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time

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Highly recommend the book 'Atomic Habits' if you found this video interesting.

👍︎︎ 33 👤︎︎ u/its_kiddos 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

lol. Love how they talk shit about Reddit

👍︎︎ 154 👤︎︎ u/JillBiden 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

For those who have a hard time starting habits, here are some things I've found personally helpful:

  • Think about your life change as a daily habit rather than a goal. Often times people go into life changes thinking something like "if only I was physically fit then I'd be happy" or "If only I made twice as much money, then I'd be happy" or "If I had a partner, then I'd be happy" But focusing on goals as a way to alleviate daily unhappiness will only end in failure as people often don't take into account the changes in life that will be necessary. All they do is try to achieve the goals, see that the process to achieving their goal is NOT like what they dreamed about and burn out. Rather than thinking "If I had a six pack, then I'd be happy" try asking this question: "What is something I can do everyday, forever, and still be okay with, which will help me get in better shape." What we did there is adjust our focus to what we will have to do, and generalize the goal to something more achievable over time. And often times people will over estimate what their habit should be "I'll do 100 push-ups a day." but if the habit breaks, don't worry, just decrease it until it becomes easy.
  • Baby steps. Jumping off the last point, when you start a habit make it something that minimizes effort. Rather than starting with 100 push-ups which sounds awesome, try starting with 5 push-ups in the morning. You might think, "Oh that's too easy. I'll barely get any benefits" but don't worry, you have the rest of your life to gain those benefits. What's most important to start with is to make it something you automatically do easily. As the phrase goes "Showing up is blah blah blah blah." Another important point is that you don't want to change your life in huge margins when you do start a new habit. The feeling of really changing your life will feel very good in the beginning, but that makes burn out after the honeymoon period, when the novelty wears off, a lot more common.
  • Make it fun. The more enjoyable the habit is the more easily your body will say "yes". Try to focus on what makes something fun. If it's something more akin to a chore, then try to set up a rewards system that reminds you of the benefits of doing said chore. For instance, let's say you want to start running. Then start by running a very small amount at a slow pace. As you do so try to focus on how enjoyable the view is, and the time you have. If it's too hard maybe get a sticker system to give yourself a sticker each day you continue. If that's too hard, make a reward so that after every 3 stickers you buy yourself a snickers bar. Whatever enjoyment you can add to a system of progress, the more likely your brain and body will latch on.
  • Make it progress. Your brain loves progress. We love progress. We love it. So make it something that progresses over time, getting closer to the goal that you originally started with. But it's not just enough to maintain progressive overload, but rather to also set up a method of celebration and acknowledgement for that progression. Journaling progress is very popular. Stickers are also popular. Talking to others can help. Having friends with similar interests in the habit. Whatever it is that can help you affirm the small incremental change you are making will make the continuation a lot more fun over time.

And if anybody wants the short cut (not really a short cut at all) to becoming better at having clearer awareness, intention, and effort, then boy do I have a snake oil sales pitch for you: try meditating. It won't solve all of your problems, or even any, but by exercising your brain consistently, you will start seeing small benefits to your mind.

👍︎︎ 20 👤︎︎ u/bauski 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

Or in my case: get told news that indicates a need for change or you will lose everything. Drinking too much, high cholesterol, etc.

👍︎︎ 7 👤︎︎ u/cruelbankai 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

If anyone wants an actual step-by-step, check out the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear

👍︎︎ 34 👤︎︎ u/icecreampoop 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

I don’t want to change, I want everyone else to change.

👍︎︎ 9 👤︎︎ u/Redararis 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

Feeling attacked

👍︎︎ 9 👤︎︎ u/EpicGuard 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

I needed this rn, thanks!

👍︎︎ 9 👤︎︎ u/narvoxx 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies

I was eating and almost choked.. how do they know me 🤣

👍︎︎ 6 👤︎︎ u/0OOO00000OO00O0O0OOO 📅︎︎ Jun 07 2022 🗫︎ replies
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If you are like most people, there is a gap  between the person you are and the person you   wish to be. There are little things you think you  should do and big things you ought to achieve. From working out regularly, eating healthily,  learning a language, working on your novel,   reading more or simply actually doing  your hobby instead of browsing reddit. But it sometimes seems that to achieve  your goals, you have to become a different   person. Someone who is consistent, puts in  more effort, has discipline and willpower.   Maybe you have tried your hardest to be like  that. And it worked! For a while. Until you   find yourself slipping back into your old  ways. In the end, you always seem to fail.   And with every failed attempt, you become more  and more frustrated and annoyed with yourself. If you believe “success and hustle”  internet, it is all your own fault:   if you don't succeed, you just didn’t want it  enough and the failure is all you. But change   is actually hard. And as with most things in  life, understanding why makes things easier. The Jungle Imagine your brain as a lush and  dense jungle. Moving through it,   say to make a decision to do something,  is like moving through an *actual* jungle:   It is hard and it costs energy.  Your brain hates expending energy,   so it came up with a trick: All your actions and  behaviors leave paths in the jungle of your brain. As you start doing something, you trample down  some plants and make rough, improvised trails   through the undergrowth. The more often you do  the thing, the more pronounced the trail becomes.   Over time it turns into a path that is  easier to tread, so you take it more often   and it turns into a street. As you repeat  doing the thing, over and over for years,   the street turns into a highway. Traversing it  becomes effortless, familiar and comfortable. The more pronounced your brain highways,  the more you get used to their comfort.   So we continue to use them, which means  we tend to do what we have always done.   This is why change is hard, especially as an adult   when your jungle is criss-crossed by  lots of established streets and highways. To understand how those highways are built  we need to distinguish between two things:   Routines and habits. The Things You Do: Routines and Habits A routine is a sequence of actions that you carry  out the same way every time because they’ve worked   out well for you. For example, you get the  same ingredients for your favorite dish and   cook them in a certain order, because you like  the taste of the result. Or before going to bed   you set an alarm at 6:30 because  this is when you want to get up. Imagine routines executed by a wise planner. It is  slow and analytical, responsible for strategizing   and mental calculations. The planner is  aware of the future and carefully considers   what kind of result you want. Based on that, it  chooses actions to achieve specific outcomes,   even if they are uncomfortable, like  taking a shower after getting up. Routines can eventually turn into  habits, which feel much easier   because they are basically a sequence of  actions carried out without thinking about them.   You have done them so often before that  your brain considers them rewarding   and a great response to a situation. So a  habit can feel like you’re on autopilot.   You don’t have to convince yourself to do  something that’s a habit - you just do it. The important thing about habits is  that they are set in motion by triggers,   context cues that can be single  things or entire situations,   that give your brain the signal  to start the behavior or action. You already have a lot of triggers in  your life: like when you see your phone,   you almost always unlock the screen. Or you reach  for the seat belt when you sit in a car. Or when   you buy your coffee before work, you also get a  cookie, even though you aren’t actually hungry. Habits are executed by an impulsive toddler.  It responds to your immediate desires, based   on what is around you. Without considering  any longer-term goals. For the toddler,   the future doesn’t exist and it hates hard work.  So when it notices a trigger, it steers you to   take this easy road inside your brain that leads  to a familiar rewarding result. If you get coffee,   the toddler also wants the cookie, just  because that’s what you do every morning. ​This rewarding feeling is also how most of  your bad habits started: chocolate is tasty,   browsing reddit is occasionally  mildly entertaining.   This is why you repeat these actions,  even if they are bad for you.   Rewarding feelings associated with an action  demand to be repeated and so a bad habit is born. While the toddler sounds like  a built-in sabotage mechanism,   it is as important as the wise planner and  actually they work together most of the time! You need your wise planner for thinking big  thoughts and parallel parking and doing your   taxes. But letting your wise planner do everything  would cost too much energy. Outsourcing mundane   and repetitive tasks to habits, managed by  the toddler, allows your brain to easily   manage your daily life, while dealing with more  complex mental challenges at the same time. So if we want to change and introduce  a new behavior into our lives,   we can actually use these energy  saving mechanisms to make it easier. We will focus on small things, not big ones.   Improving your life a little is  so much better than aiming high   and changing nothing. Especially because small  changes can do a lot over months and years. How To Build a Habit If you want to make change easier,  the best way may not be to force   it with willpower but to convince your  brain that it’s not that big of a deal.   By creating new routines and then turning  them into habits. You want your wise planner   to construct that first trail and then use your  toddler to help initiate the action effortlessly. Let us say, you want to work out  to be fitter, a very common goal.   The first thing to do is to break down this  pretty vague goal into clear, separate actions,   because the idea is to make the action  itself as easy a threshold as possible:   so small it is manageable and so specific  that you don’t have to think about it a lot. For example, a tangible,  controllable action might be   “doing ten squats” every morning. So you  can start by trying to create a routine   but already include clear triggers  that the toddler can pick up later on. Remember, a trigger is nothing more than a  signal that you always associate with the action.   They can be visual pointers like seeing  a particular object, like your training   outfit. Or a certain time of day, or a designated  place like a nearby park – or even better, all of   these things combined. The important thing is that  you always start doing your action in a specific   context. This trigger is the start button that  will eventually set off the action automatically. So to establish a home workout habit with ten  squats to begin with, you could make sure to   always do them with your exercise gear on, at the  same place and time, like in your living room at   8am. Once you have your trigger and action,  all you need to do is repeat them regularly,   ideally every day. If you keep going, they  will change from a routine to a habit,   from a trail to a highway. Don’t get this wrong,  the squats will still take you energy to do – but   the decision to do them will feel much less like  a chore and more like a regular part of your day. While this is simple, it is not easy. Many things you want to turn into habits don’t  offer as much instant gratification as wasting   time on reddit. To make your new action easier  to repeat and more likely to be picked up by   the toddler, try to make it pleasurable.  Not necessarily by rewarding yourself   after you did it, but by making the action  or behavior itself more enjoyable. Like only   listening to your favorite podcast while  working out, or chipping away at your taxes   while you wait for civilization to load the next  round. You need to figure out what works for you. In principle, that's it. Frustratingly simple, like most things you can  do to make your life better. How long it takes   for your toddler to take over and establish a  habit varies widely. It depends on the behavior   you are trying to get used to, what kind of person  you are, your stress levels and many more things.   It takes anything between 15 and 250  days until a new habit is kicked off   automatically by its trigger. You won't  know how long it will take for you. Starting is the easy part,  especially in the first week or two.   Continuing to do it every day is the hard  part. But it does get easier as you keep going. There are no silver bullets for  change. But the science of habits   is a reminder that it is possible,  no matter how old or young you are.   Even if you only end up doing a little more good  stuff or a few new things, that’s still a success.   Being a little bit more healthy or knowledgable  is a million times better than being unhappy about   a thing and changing nothing. In the end,  change is a direction, not a destination. So now that we hopefully gave you a bit  of insight and motivation, this is the   moment to sell you a thing! But please know, you  do not need to buy anything to work on yourself. Having said that, we struggle with  change as much as anyone else,   so we created our own habit journal, as much for  ourselves as for you. Before we printed anything,   we tested it on ourselves and got  feedback from the Kurzgesagt team. The idea is for you to track your habit  progress for your desired behavior.   There is a tutorial part which guides you through  the hardest part of the process step by step.   You’ll get helpful pointers, reflect on your  progress and how you could make things easier for   yourself. Once you get through the tutorial part  the habit journaling starts, regularly interwoven   by examples, science Breaks and reflections that  will hopefully keep the journey interesting. Like our Gratitude Journal it is cloth-bound,  with an embossed hardcover and printed on   high-quality paper. Nice to the touch and  with lots of beautiful illustrations this   book is compangion on your personal change  journey, however small or big it may be. Getting things from our shop is  the best way to support Kurzgesagt   and what we try to do here on the  channel. Thank you for watching.
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Channel: Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Views: 6,440,917
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Length: 11min 30sec (690 seconds)
Published: Tue Jun 07 2022
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