This page is dedicated to everything I have learned and found useful in how to build habits. That is, how to commit to and follow through on positive habits in your day to day life and also how to get rid of the negative ones.
Please Note: This page is a work in progress. I will add new things I learn, take away things that I change my mind on, or change things around as my thoughts develop on what is useful for building habits and sticking to them.
FAVE HABIT FORMING BOOK : ATOMIC HABITS by JAMES CLEAR
By far and away the habit building book I am most likely to recommend to clients, friends or anyone who will listen is James Clear's Atomic Habits. It is structured beautifully - which really helps my brain and countless others to digest the information and put it into practise. No lengthy chapters or paragraphs to get bogged down in. He also summarises the information frequently, which works well. And overall I think the tips and habit forming strategies he offers are perfectly formed, easy to apply, based on progress not perfection and allow for the days when you just don't have it to give. He also sends a weekly newsletter called 3.2.1 which is fab.
NEUROPLASTICITY: Why it matters when it comes to forming habits
So the next piece of information that I have found useful is rather than thinking about will power when it comes to building habits, actually knowing that theres something happening in my brain that takes time helps me be kind to myself when my habit isn't sticking yet, or I fall off the wagon.
THE RULE OF 60: According to research by Lally in 2006, on average, when you reach around 60 repetitions of a new habit, the associated neural pathway will be sufficiently myelinised, which means your habit will be officially formed. 🥳
Executive Functions and Habit Forming - Why its harder to build habits with ADHD
The main Executive Functions at play when it comes to habits are Goal-Directed Persistence and Working Memory which basically translate to: remembering to do the habit and to keep doing the habit when it gets hard.
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