“Good habits make time your ally and bad habits make time your enemy.” -James Clear, Atomic Habits

In today’s message, I would like you to think about your habits and your time. Are they your ally or your enemy? Do you have good habits? And if so, how many do you have and how many do you need to work on? Learn how to make habits your friend by first understanding how they are formed. Below are the Top 3 methods for habit creation.

#1) Forget about goals! 

Counterintuitive, I know. But hear me out. I say forget about goals because they are so short lived. Lose 50 lbs., then what? Hit your body fat goal, what’s next? Understand this: goals are for direction, but systems are good for progress. 

If you create a system that includes weighing yourself daily, scheduling exercise on your calendar, eating at the same times every day and going to bed at the same time every night, you are much more likely to maintain your weight, hit your body fat goal and keep it where you like for as long as you wish. And for extra accountability you can hire a personal trainer, nutritionist, and/or behavioral psychologist as part of your system.

#2) Change your identity! 

According to James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, “True behavior change is identity change.” He goes on to say that “Your old identity can sabotage new plans for change.” And guess what folks, I hear it all the time. 

Clients, family members and even friends say things like, “I need to get my fat a$$ to the gym” or “look how fat I am.” It always hurts me when I hear my loved ones speak this way because I understand that until their identity is changed, the weight loss and body transformation that they desire will be fleeting. Change the way you speak to yourself and others about yourself. And always remember, you HAVE fat, you are NOT fat. 

#3) Implementation Intention! 

This is about where and when to act. You can’t have a system if you have not determined where and when the act will take place. And you can’t truly schedule the activity on your calendar until you have determined the when and where. 

A great way to do this is to stack a new habit on an existing habit, aka, “habit stacking.” It goes a little something like this… After I pour my cup of tea each morning and meditate (Old Habits), I will exercise for 60 minutes at Preston Ray Fitness in Oakland every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am with Preston by my side. 

Tie your desired behavior into something you do each day. Exercising more or eating better does not provide instruction on how or when to act. Time and location are a must in habit stacking. Don’t forget that. Without it your system will fail. 

Accepting the fact that in today’s world we need to schedule everything just to get anything done can be a hard pill to swallow. The more things you have on auto pilot the more likely you are to “win the day.” In doing so you will slowly begin to change your identity by following your system which leads you where you intend to be.