New year, new month, new perspective on our lives. We make resolutions. But a lot of time, they don’t stick. Why?

"Improvements are only temporary until they become part of who you are. The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader. The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner. The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a musician. This year, focus on the identity you want to build." - James Clear

It's a good time this new year to assess our habits, and weed out the bad, and plant in the good. When was the last time you observed your daily habits? Do you have a habit that doesn’t reflect who you are or who you want to become? Admittedly, I had become complacent, until I came across James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. I have read it twice, and will give it a third read this year. James Clear writes about a subject as mundane as habits, and makes it incredibly interesting. He shines awareness into an area we most likely have on autopilot. I will put habits around using the cell phone, and leave it right here. Without reading the book, you can start by just observing your own habits and asking: What do I want more in my life, what is not useful anymore? What small daily habits do I need to integrate or get rid of to set myself up for success?

Why atomic? Because it doesn’t have to be a big commitment to create change. If you chip away a little bit everyday, you can end up with a gorgeous sculpture.

Clear’s iconic quote from the book: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You sink to the level of your systems.” Clear suggests it is the systems we put in place, the daily habits that we do consistently, that will set us up for success. He makes wonderful suggestions on how to make those habits easy to integrate. If they are too hard to integrate, the system will be flawed. If you want to go to the gym everyday, or start a daily meditation practice, don’t overwhelm yourself with a time commitment. Do it for 1-5 minutes everyday. You might find that you enjoy it, and want to add on more time. It’s achievable: a good system.

Identity

Once you have your habit system in place, how do you see truly yourself? This will either support your system or sabotage it. If you want to lose weight, can you see yourself as a healthy, thin person or do you hold onto yourself as a fat person? If you want to read more, can you see yourself as a reader? Writer? Clear had an example of a friend who wanted to lose weight. Before choosing a meal, she asked herself: Would a healthy person eat this? If the answer was no, that choice wasn’t made. That use of a simple, consistent system used on a daily basis helped achieve weight loss.

How we identify and talk about ourselves is so important to help achieve our goals in order to support the habits that get us there. Clear gives the example of someone trying to quit the habit of smoking. If someone offers a cigarette, do they say “No I am trying to quit” or “No I am not a smoker.” If you guessed the latter, you are correct! Does this person identify as a smoker trying to quit or a non-smoker? A person seeing themselves as a non smoker will likely reach their goal. If you have the habit of reading 20 minutes a week, you are a reader. If you meditate for 2 minutes a day, you are a meditator. How you see yourself is important for your system. Change what you do to become who you want. “Don’t focus on what you want to achieve, focus on what you want to become.”

Space

We can craft our space to support the habits we want to stick with. Clear says “be the architect of your space.” He cited a hospital cafeteria taking advantage of the power of visual cues. They put out more bottled water around the sodas in the refrigerators, in baskets, and around checkout. No one was told to choose the water. The visual fact that it was more available in the space, where people can see it, meant sales of soda dropped and bottled water went up. So we can shape our space to support a new habit. If you want to floss every night, keep the floss out so you can see it. If you want to play guitar, don’t keep it in the back of your closet.

Atomic habits has a lot more information, including templates. It’s an inspiring read and a great way to start fresh this year. You can get the audio or book form wherever you buy books, or go to www.jamesclear.com for more information.