Habits. We want to create and maintain good ones, and stop or limit bad ones. For most people, during difficult times, habits provide the necessary structure and relieve stress.

Perhaps you’re continuing to work from home. Maybe you’re returning to the office fully or partially. Maybe you’re one of the many people that has changed jobs or even retired during what the media has dubbed the Great Resignation. This pandemic has provided some major life-work shifts, which in turn has required lots of energy and planning. From shifting your commute, workout schedule, and meal times to renegotiating household expectations and roles. There have been a lot of changes.

When the pandemic hit, like many people, we stopped going to the gym. We kept doing outdoor activities (including road cycling and hiking) but really wanted to set up a home gym at home. So we did! It took months to complete but we love the results.

On April 26, 2021, we put together and started using our NordicTrack elliptical. I’ve been loving it ever since! It came with an interactive fitness program called iFit. I am so hooked! I get to virtually visit all of these amazing places around the world, learn about other cultures, geography, and health and fitness from superb trainers.

I’ve now completed over 200 workouts in 4 months, a milestone that has resulted in receiving many magnets, medals, a T-shirt, a hat, bragging rights in the iFit Facebook group, and most importantly, improved health and fitness. And working out on the elliptical has made me so much stronger that it has improved my road cycling stats when I get outdoors on my bike.

On April 26, 2021, we put together and started using our NordicTrack elliptical. I’ve been loving it ever since! It came with an interactive fitness program called iFit. I am so hooked! I get to virtually visit all of these amazing places around the world, learn about other cultures, geography, and health and fitness from superb trainers.

I’ve now completed over 200 workouts in 4 months, a milestone that has resulted in receiving many magnets, medals, a T-shirt, a hat, bragging rights in the iFit Facebook group, and most importantly, improved health and fitness. And working out on the elliptical has made me so much stronger that it has improved my road cycling stats when I get outdoors on my bike.

What does this have to do with Habits? Well, a lot actually, as you’ll see below.

As a productivity consultant and success coach, I love to study human behavior and keep abreast of research and trends that pertain to my expertise. And that includes devouring as many books on the topic as I have time to read or listen to.

Recently, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear. I totally geeked out on this book!

What I particularly liked is that it was delivered in bite-size manageable chunks that were easy to follow and implement. The author structured the concepts well into various Laws of Behavior Change, reviews each Law at the end of a chapter, and offers additional resources on his website. He weaves in a few anecdotes, case studies, etc. and sometimes refers to well-established research and principles, like the work of Charles Duhigg (author of The Power of Habit — a phenomenal book if you’re looking for a deep dive into the research of habits).

But Clear’s sweet spot seems to be synthesizing a lot of complex information into easily digestible mantras or Laws. The beauty of this simplicity is that more people may be able to implement the concepts. So in that sense, he’s helping readers do something that I am quite fond of — move from thinking to doing.

If you’re looking for an accessible book on creating and sticking to habits, give this one a try. If you do, let me know what you think.

In the meantime, here is a recap of the 4 Laws of Atomic Habits for you. I will apply each one to Health and Fitness to show you how the 4 Laws work on a practical basis.

Law 1: Make it Obvious

Applying that to health and fitness, you would set up cues. They can include setting up a makeshift home gym or area where you can keep equipment handy, laying out your exercise clothes, filling a water bottle every day and carrying it with you, meal planning and prepping food in advance, and wearing a FitBit or other device to track movement and exercise. I personally do all of the above, and use a few different apps to track metrics (I am a metrics person so this motivates me! If you aren’t and find tracking to be de-motivating, don’t do it).

Law 2: Make it Attractive

We tend to want to continue habits that are attractive and appealing to us in some way. This is where my awesome new home gym, gorgeous shiny new elliptical, and the amazing iFit interactive program comes in. Make your exercise areas, routines, and equipment as attractive as possible. Whether that is a trail with views, hitting the yoga mat in your backyard, or treating yourself to a new pair of sneakers, if it’s more attractive, you are more drawn to it.

Law 3: Make it Easy

One way to make a habit easy is to reduce the amount of friction associated with the behavior. The habits with the least amount of friction are generally the ones that are most likely to occur. You can reduce the friction associated with any task by mapping out all of the behaviors connected to a given process and then identifying areas where you can automate or streamline the process.

For example, find the friction as it relates to your workouts, exercise habits, etc. Do you set your exercise time for 5 AM but then aren’t an early riser? Carve out a different time. Do you only like to work out with others but your spouse or kids have no interest in joining you? Work out online with virtual buddies. Find the fiction, and counteract it or plug it!

Law 4: Make it Satisfying

Rather than focusing on the results of a habit, perhaps focus on how it makes you feel. For example, maybe your goal is to exercise to feel better, improve your health, sleep better, and/or decrease stress. If you exercise only to look better, that may take more time and you may get frustrated and impatient.

It’s not necessary to track every habit. However, I do believe tracking can be beneficial for the most important tasks. Personally, I track my exercise habits. You can use a calendar or a fancy app (I use LoseIt.com, RunKeeper.com, RideWithGPS.com, and iFit — and all are synched to Apple Health). But remember, I am a metrics person. Metrics to me equals motivation. If they don’t have the same satisfying effect on you, then find something that does. Where there is satisfaction, there is motivation, and where there is motivation, there is action.

Habits Build Identity

One last tip from the book that I found extremely powerful and want to pass along about habits and identity (think personal brand). Small habits can reinforce the identity you want to build. For example, if you exercise five days a week, you are casting votes for your new identity as a physically fit, healthy individual or better yet, possibly an athlete if that appeals to you. As the votes accumulate, so does the evidence of your new identity. If a small habit reinforces your desired identity, then it is meaningful. And if it’s meaningful, then it’s actually something you’ll keep doing.

Whether you use the 4 Laws of Atomic Habits to focus on personal or professional habits, I wish you habit-building mojo