Found in 2 comments on Hacker News
Anand_S · 2016-01-19
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1> Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Habit-What-Business/dp/08129... 2> Mini Habits - Stephen guise http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Habits-Smaller-Bigger-Results-ebo...
After reading these books I am now able to successfully create new habits. Last year I tried to get into a habit of reading good books and was able to read around 40 good books ( twice of what I had planned)
Systematic, definitely. Scientific? Not really sure, but I find it extremely effective. If I could boil it down to "what works" for me, it'd be:
- Pick a task or thing that you want to accomplish. Let's say running (mine is running/lifting).
- Pick a "cue," or something that signals when you perform said task. The more apparent the cue the better. Mine is waking up. Working out is the first thing I do.
- Follow this routine religiously for about 21 days. That's the magic number according to people who are into this kind of thing, and I agree. At this point you kind of forget what your old habit was when you woke up, and you naturally go to perform your new task.
And lastly, there will be some days when you don't want to perform the task. Do it anyway. A streak of not performing that task is really just the (re)formation of a bad habit.