I am proud to share the first guest feature on Grow with Aidan. This individual would like to stay anonymous but wanted to share their insights on the book Atomic Habits by James Clear with you all.
I sincerely hope you enjoy!
Best,
AG
What is the type of person you want to become?
Take a minute to think about this for a second, for me it is:
I’m the type of person who goes to the gym everyday
I’m the type of person who eats healthy
I’m the type of person who doesn’t use technology a lot
I’m the type of person who gets different groups of people together to talk about interesting topics
Now the truth is
If you act like that person long enough then in the end you become the person that you want to be
What I mean by that is… let’s just say that in reality you are somebody who never works out, eats unhealthy, and is a little overweight. The evidence points to that all in all, you are an unhealthy person.
BUT, what would a healthy person do?
They would workout before / after work
They would eat a salad rather then a burger
They would walk instead of drive
If you start to change your habits to become the type of person who is healthy, then in the end you have evidence to support the fact that you are a healthy person rather then an unhealthy one. You are taking the steps to become the person that you want to be.
But the biggest question is
How do you implement habits?
What I learned is the biggest way is through implementation intension.
Try to write down ways to implement a healthy lifestyle to your daily activities.
When situation X happens I will perform Y
When I finish work I will head to the gym
When I eat lunch I will eat a salad
When 12 o’clock rolls around I will go on a walk
“If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty seven times better by the time you are done”
Now try to get a little bit more specific with your implementation intentions:
I will action at time in/to location
I will go to a HIIT Workout at 3 o’clock to DMN8
I will eat a salad at 1PM in my house
I will go on a walk at 12 o’clock to the Santa Monica Pier
Hold yourself accountable to the habits you set for yourself and anything is possible. It will not happen if you do it once, twice, or even every day for a week.
But if you continue to set implementation intentions and follow through with them, eventually you do not need to think about the type of person you want to become because you have become the person you want to be.
