Revolutionary Self-Improvement through Daily Habits

Ever wondered how tiny tweaks to your daily routine can snowball into life-altering changes? This season on 'Have a Cup of Johanny we're steering clear of the goal-setting hype and diving headfirst into the world of habit formation. Sip along as we unpack the wisdom of Charles Duhigg's 'The Power of Habit' and James Clear's 'Atomic Habits.' These reads aren't just idle chatter; they're the blueprints to revamping the very way you chase your dreams. 

Prepare to get personal as I, your host, peel back the layers of my own transformative experience—from mindless social media swipes to morning meditations. It's an intimate look at the uncomfortable yet rewarding journey of self-improvement. I also discuss why our environment can pave the path to progress and why discomfort isn't the enemy—it's the catalyst. If the mere thought of meditation has you rolling your eyes, this chat might just be the nudge you need. Let's toast to growth and the habits that foster it, one episode at a time.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to this new season of have a Cup of Joani podcast. In this season, we are embarking on an exciting journey, one of shameless learning. We're tossing out the fear of judgment and embracing curiosity with open arms, whether it's exploring new ideas, tackling challenging topics or learning from our missteps. We're doing it all without shame or inhibition. Can't wait for y'all to listen to this, hello everyone. So on this episode we're going to continue our conversation about habit forming, because if you listen to the previous episode, you know that I don't necessarily put too much emphasis on goals, but on the habits that support those goals, and that is really what helps me to achieve those goals. I told you that there are certain books that I have read Charles Duhigg, the Power of Habit, james Clear, atomic Habit, the 5am Club and the Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. Last episode we focused on Charles Duhigg, the Power of Habit, and on this episode I want to focus a little bit more on Atomic Habits by James Clear. If you heard the conversation last Wednesday, you know, if you have read this book, the Atomic Habits, that some of the things that I said really relate more to this. But, as it happens, the things that I read just kind of like come together like a sancocho the binocan stew in my head, and then I turn it into actionable advice putting all those things together. So when I'm referencing things, the ideas that come from each of these books just come together naturally, because they do, and if you have read any productivity books, you will see that the ideas presented, they are all connected some shape way or form. But when it comes to Atomic Habits, there's an emphasis here of small changes, doing small changes to see big results and understanding that these small changes are going to compound. It's similar to what I did when I talked about the habit of me getting up early in the morning, and the first thing that I did was grab my phone and look at social media and how, instead, I changed that. The queue was getting up early. I grabbed my phone right, but instead of looking into social media, now going in there to my clear fold journal to write the three things I'm grateful for. And then, once I did that, enough, and I was like, well, I still have this phone in my hand, what else can I do with it? And that habit compounded into let me listen to guided meditation, you see, and I found it to be like the perfect time, as I am getting up and opening my eyes and my brain is coming through to do something positive with myself and to ground myself. And that habit, which used to be two, now it's one, and then I'm starting to add the new lessons in there, you see. So that's what I mean by I compounded three habits into one Atomic habit.

Speaker 1: 4:01

It's talking about these small changes that we can make in our lives that will play dividends to a more productive life. Clear as well, in the atomic habit, don't focus too much on setting goals, but more on the habit and the system that we have implemented in our life to achieve those goals. So, as you can see, these are things that go a little bit against the grain with what the general public may think, because we tend to go towards. This is our goal, this is what we wanna achieve. Okay, let's get after it, but sometimes we fail to see what within our lives need to change so that way we can reach that goal. According to clear as well, our environment plays a big part, the systems that we have in place play a big part and, essentially, if you don't have those habits and grain, we can't will ourselves and to do things that we haven't taught our brains to do automatically or we haven't gotten comfortable with, because, as humans talking about experience here, right we don't like to be uncomfortable. We don't like to do things that we don't want or we don't like, and sometimes the things that we gotta do that will contribute and support our goals are things that we don't wanna do Get up early, drink more water as opposed to soda, take our vitamins, do meditation, breathing exercises.

Speaker 1: 5:52

I used to be so against meditation. It was insane. I used to be like nobody needs to teach me how to breathe. I do that automatically. That was me. That was me for real. Like I was that person. But as I got older and I became more self-aware of the triggers that I had, the trauma that I had enduring, how that was manifesting in my life, I learned that I do need it to learn how to breathe, so that way it can ground me in the present and it can keep me from going in the past, where I was not very happy, or going in the future, where I'm just worrying about how things will turn out. You see, so James Clear understands that and that's what he explains in the book.

Speaker 1: 6:52

If we just focus on the goals and we don't analyze our lives, our environment, the systems that we have put in place and the habits that we already have, then it becomes kind of like a null point. And that's why, when I wrote that blog about New Years, new Me, bs, I think, in essence I didn't know about these books back then, I hadn't read these books back then, but in essence I was getting angry because I saw all these people embarking on these New Year resolutions and then running out of gas by February 1st and I could see that from going to the gym. I could see that the parking lot will be full the first two weeks of January and then it will start tapering down on the third, on the fourth and by February it was like back to normal. I was like, okay, great, I have to hold Jim to myself now. So I kind of knew. But I didn't understand the whole concept until I read these two books right here.

Speaker 1: 7:51

That's what atomic habits is in essence, how important those tiny habits are that you cultivate and how your habits shape your identity. So it was something that he said here identity based habits work so well because when we identify ourselves with that habit, then it's just going to flow easier for us. We're not going to fight against it mentally, and this is kind of like. You identify yourself as a healthy person. I identify myself as an early riser since I can remember, that's what I've been. I love the mornings. I rise early, which means that for me and my brain is not something that brings me this pleasure and it's not something that makes me angry when I wake up early in the morning, because Joah is an early riser. Joah loves the mornings. While I didn't build that habit, my grandma was the one that built it for me because she got me up very early in the mornings into the Dominican Republic growing up and that just translated to here. But because of that action that I was doing every single day, then I was able to identify myself through it and then, when I came to the US and then I became an adult and had a choice of whether early riser or just, you know, not such an early riser, I chose the one that I identified with the early riser, and it just became easy for me and I thank God I did that because, being in the Army, you have to be an early riser. Whether you like it or not, you have to be an early riser.

Speaker 1: 9:42

Now James Clear says how changing our habits. It's difficult. There's three layers of behavior change, according to James Clear, and usually we are in the outer layer. You have outcomes, which is the outer circle. You have processes, which is an inner circle, and then you have identity, which is the bull's eye circle. So you want to be in identity, you want to identify with the change, with the habit that you have. But usually we're more in outcomes and processes and that's when you have tried to build a habit in what you will get out of it, kind of like losing weight is a big one for for new year's resolution. If I eat within a calorie deficit, I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose weight and I'm gonna look good. So that's outcomes base habit for me.

Speaker 1: 10:48

And then you see how that, by the example I used, may not work. If we say I am a healthy individual, I am a fit individual, and fit individuals they go to the gym. Now you have identified with that habit and now you are more likely to stay in that habit structure of going to the gym because you have identified as a fit individual and fit individuals, they go to the gym. So that is something that Cleared talks about in his book and he also he gives credit to Doohig as well, because he talks about the habit loop and the whole Q behavior and reward, q trigger behavior and reward. He also talks about that.

Speaker 1: 11:45

But he also says that to build better habits he gives a step by step process make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy and make it satisfying, kind of like what I told you about the small wins. When you do accomplish it, you do a little dance, you know, or something like that, something that will not derail your progress. Okay, don't go to the gym and then be like oh, I went to the gym, now let me go eat 10 donuts, or something like that. You know, don't derail your own progress through your celebration. Okay, but if you do, don't beat yourself up over it. It never works either. Just try again the next day, okay. But the four simple steps that Cleared talks about is making it obvious, making it obvious that this is something, this is a habit that you're going to do. Making it attractive, making it easy and making it satisfying.

Speaker 1: 12:51

I am a big proponent of making it easy. I set myself up for success, like tomorrow I'm going to get up at 4, but I've been on vacation all this time and while I do get up early, I don't get up usually at 4 in the morning. Usually I don't. Usually it's a little later than that, usually it's at 5. But for me to be able to accomplish the things that I need to accomplish when I'm working and not on vacation, I need to get up at 4. And I know that it's just going to be hard that very first week. It always is. So I am being realistic with myself, I am understanding that that is what I will be feeling in the moment, but then I know that this is something that I want to do and this is something that benefits me, because I will be able to do the habits that I've implemented, which all pay dividends towards my well-being. So because of that, I'm able to get up and kind of like shut down that negative, counterproductive voice that usually sprouts when I'm doing something uncomfortable but necessary.

Speaker 1: 14:18

And I also make it easy. I put out my uniform Like today I'm going to have everything laid out and easy to get. I'm going to have my bag by the door. I'm going to have my sneakers ready. I have my water bottle prepped the night before, next to my vitamins and I have my pre-workout set up to the side as well before I get out of the house. So all these things makes it easier for me to accomplish the habits that I've implemented. And eventually I know after a week then I'll be back in that schedule and it'll be easy once again. But I will still prep myself because it just makes for an easier morning, it makes for a more enjoyable morning where that's something less I need to do. I have to do so the time that is there, it really is just for me, and the habits that help me. That's something that I've gotten, not just from this book but from practice of what works for me. So we have found ourselves at the end of this short episode, all right.

Speaker 1: 15:36

So in conclusion, james Clear Atomic Habits an awesome read. I please go read it and get everything that you can out of that book. It's also an audiobook format and I believe it's also on book summary format in Blinkets. If you don't have the time to read the complete book or listen to the whole book, it is there in summary book format and you can get the gist of it. Really, it's all about compounding habits and how small changes in your life pays dividend in the long run, and how it is our habits, not so much our goals, that give us results. Therefore, if we follow the guidance here, which is making that habit obvious, making it attractive, making it easy and making it satisfying, then we're most likely going to stick to that habit.

Speaker 1: 16:39

And, as always, I hope you have learned something from this episode and I hope that you have enjoyed our chat and I will see you next Wednesday for more self-development talk, because it is the month of January and that's what we're focusing on this month. Okay, all right, see you next Wednesday. Bye, oh, we can, we can fly. Thank you so much for listening. I want to hear from you, leave me a comment, do a rating if you can on the podcast, share it with somebody you love, but, most importantly, come back. See you next time. Bye, let's go fly. Oh, we can, we can fly. Oh, we can, we can fly.