How to Start (and Keep) a Healthy Habit (2025)

This applies not only to what you have to do, but also to what you think you want to do. Maybe you think you should learn Spanish, but you haven’t actually done anything to learn Spanish. Admitting that you’re not committed enough to the idea of ​​learning Spanish can help close this loop. Letting go of the feeling that you should learn Spanish can be the one thing that frees your mind enough that you decide. Take up paddleboarding The point on a whim is that the New Year isn’t just a time to start something new. It’s time to let go of things from the past that are no longer serving you.

In many ways it’s the antidote to that ever-popular slogan “just do it.” just do it Instead of deciding what you really want to do or want to do, you shouldn’t think about it. Maybe spend some time thinking about why you wanted to do it in the first place, and if those reasons no longer resonate with you, just no do it

If you like this idea, I recommend getting Allen’s book. It goes into more detail about this concept and has some practical advice on letting go. You can still keep track of those things, if you decide, years from now, while you’re paddleboarding through the Sea of ​​Cortez, that you really want to learn Spanish now and are willing to put in the work.

Remember to live

I will admit, my enthusiasm for get the job done has decreased over the years. Not because the system doesn’t work, but because I’ve found my life improved dramatically by doing less, not more. Not that I stopped doing things. It’s that I found a lot of things I really didn’t think I should be doing; These were ideas I had internalized from elsewhere. I didn’t really want to do them, so I didn’t, then I felt guilty about it.

While everything I’ve written above remains good advice for starting a healthy habit and continuing with it, it’s worth spending some time and making sure why you want to do what you’re doing. I have read again By Bertrand Russell In praise of lazinessAnd this line jumped out at me: “Modern man thinks that everything should be done for something else, and never for its own sake.”

In terms of habits, I think it’s worth considering whether you want to start a habit because you like the habit or because you think you should because it will make you happier or healthier or more successful. Doing something because you truly love them for their own sake is much more likely to lead to success.

do the work

As one of my writing professors used to say, to be a writer you have to park your butt in a chair and actually write. To be a yogi, you have to do yoga. If you want to run, you have to run. There is no easy way around it. You need to put on your grown up pants and do the work.

However, on the flip side, as Clear points out early on Atomic practiceThe way to change who you are is to change what you do. “Every time you write a page, you are a writer. Whenever you practice the violin, you are a musician. Every time you start a workout, you are an athlete.” Every time you work out, you become the future self you want to be.