It doesn't matter the time of year, it's always a good time to talk about goals and habits. Our New Year's energy wore off months ago, and we are headed into summer - which is a notoriously bad time for starting and maintaining habits.
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​So, before we get too far into vacation mode, let's talk about how to re-up our habits as the temperatures heat up.

We often see goals as one universal way to set aims and get $h!t done. But there are two different types of goals that drive our ambitions. Understanding the difference and how to effectively create them is critical when it comes to implementation and achievement.

An outcome goal is centered on the achievement of an end result. It gives the destination at the end of the journey. There's no mention of how the goal will be achieved. The ubiquitous SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) is a fantastic way to structure an outcome goal. 

Process goals give you the roadmap for your outcome goal. A process goal focuses on the behaviors and the "how" of achieving a goal. SMART goals fall short when creating a process goal. Achieving an outcome (especially if it is something big), requires several small steps and a series of behavior changes. 

Take body composition changes, for example. If you want to gain 10 pounds of muscle, you need to change the way you eat, move, and sleep. Each new habit needs a process goal.
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​Let's turn to the STARS:
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​Specific:
​Identify one and ONLY one area you want to focus on.
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​Trackable:
​A goal without metrics is just a dream. And as we know, dreams only come true in movies. Your goal will have metrics that can be measured and tracked. Define what success looks like. How will you know when your goal is achieved? (TIP: If you can check a box when it's done, then you know it's trackable and measurable.) At this step, you will also choose your method of tracking. There are tons of different ways to do this. Pick the easiest one for you.
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​Actionable:
​Your goal will require doing something. Use action words (i.e. verbs) when creating your goal.
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​Realistic:
​Given your current situation and phase or season of life, is this goal achievable right now? Do you have the bandwidth and resources? Are you willing to sacrifice to meet this goal?
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​Significant:
​Your goal needs to align with your values and long-term achievements. When goals and values are aligned, your motivation is improved.
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​A word on time:
​The element of time is not included in a STARS goal. When it comes to behavior change, it's ongoing. There is no endpoint. The behavior may change and evolve over time, but as long as you are working toward an outcome, there will always be a process.
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​Also, the timeline isn't always up to you. Unforeseen circumstances, poor time estimates, and the forces of the universe all work against us when it comes to setting deadlines. Plus, setting a deadline gives us a binary pass/fail and one more reason to stop our progress if a deadline is missed.
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​When it comes to goal setting and behavior change, incorporate the time element by setting aside time to tend to your process goal. Ask yourself: "What time am I going to set aside to work on my goal or habit?" This will differ depending on the goal or habit. It may be a few minutes a day or a certain amount of accumulated time per week. Whatever works for you.

At this point, we know our intention, we know how we will track it, and we’ve set aside time for it. Now, we write it down. Just by writing down your goal, you are 40% more likely to achieve it.

One way to do this is with an implementation intention. This is a simple statement of what you will do, when you will do it, and where it will take place.

I will [insert activity] at [day and time] in [place].

Now, we can approach the habits to set that will give us the outcome (or goal achievement) we want.

Everything we talk about moving forward, are ways to make this implementation intention easier to do. Because habits start out as conscious intentions and decisions before they become automatic behaviors.

Every habit has four elements that create a Habit Loop which create the feedback needed to continue the behavior. This idea was popularized by James Clear. We first talked about the Habit Loop in Episode 37: Developing the Habit of Creativity, but here's a quick recap:
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​Cue:
​Any circumstance that triggers a behavior or habit. This could be anything from a feeling, an action, a time of day, seeing certain items, a song, the list goes on... You might not even be aware of the cue.
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​Craving:
​The feeling of wanting to complete the behavior. You may not be aware of this either. It could be a restlessness in your body, physical symptoms, or an off-feeling.
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​Behavior:
​The is the performance or completion of the action (or habit).
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​Reward:
​The satisfied feeling (however fleeting) you get after completing the behavior or action.

Each one of the habit elements can be influenced to make a behavior easier to complete or more difficult to complete (if it's a habit you are trying to break).
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​You influence the habit elements through behavior change strategies. These strategies have been proven through research to be effective in maintaining your health and creativity habits. Each strategy influences a different element of the Habit Loop. Once you determine the element that is causing the most friction, you can turn to the strategy that resolves it.

Habit stacking is when you add your new habit to an existing habit. We all have habits that we are already doing every day. Many people have the existing habit of brewing coffee or tea in the morning. There are several habits you could add on to this moment:
​- Take a vitamin
​- Drink a glass of water
​- Take 5 deep breaths
​- Turn on music and dance around for one song
​- Do 5 minutes of stretching
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​Sometimes this is referred to as cue-based planning: When X happens, I will do Y. So, when I brew my coffee in the morning, I will take a vitamin.
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​Element Influenced: CUE. The cue is the already established habit and it works because you don't have to figure out a cue for your new habit. It's already there. 

It's easier to change your surroundings than to change yourself. When your environment is set up to support your habit, you are not relying (as much) on self control and motivation. People that have the most success with habits, do not rely on self-control.
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​A word from James Clear:
​"Think about self-control less as the quality of a person and more as the quality of a place. There are some places and situations that lean toward lower self-control, and others that lean toward higher self-control. Self-control is about your context as much as your character. Put yourself if good positions."
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​Most disciplined people are perceived as being strong willed in the face of temptation. In truth, it's the avoidance of temptation through supportive environments is where the success lies.
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​Environment building is largely based on two strategies:
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​The Strategy of Convenience
​Make aspects of your new habit as convenient as possible. Put cues and reminders visible. Leave your journal out. Set out gym clothes the night before your morning workout. Move any tools or equipment to need from hard to reach places to easily accessible spaces.
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​The Strategy of Inconvenience
​The aim of this strategy is to create space and time between the cue and response. You want to increase the amount of physical or mental energy required to perform the behavior. This can take shape in many ways:
​- Leave your phone in another room
​- Unplug your TV when you go to work
​- Remove saved credit cards from shopping sites
​- Hide or remove any known triggers (TV remote, junk food, alcohol)
​- Delay phone time with blockers or timers
​- Engage in an incompatible activity (you can't doom scroll if you are reading a book)
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​Element Influenced: CUE & RESPONSE

Temptation bundling is the strategy of combining something you have to do with something you want to do. Or something that gives you instant gratification with an activity that is beneficial but the gratification is delayed.
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​The classic example is combining exercise with TV (or certain TV shows). Research show that this works best when you only engage in the enjoyable activity while completing the activity that you aren't looking forward to. So, you only watch TV while you are on the treadmill. This can work with anything that causes you to procrastinate. Catch up on emails or admin tasks while you are getting a pedicure. Listen to a podcast while you are cooking or cleaning.
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​To create your own temptation bundle:

Element Influenced: CRAVING & REWARD. You'll crave the enjoyable activity, thus making it more likely to do the unenjoyable activity. And you'll also get a reward boost from the accomplishment and the reward of enjoyment.

We are influenced by the people around us. We talked more about this in Episode 35: Social Environment & Mental Health. This influence is created through social norms.
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​From How to Change by Katy Milkman:
​"Consciously or unconsciously, norms create pressure to conform so we won't experience social discomfort or sanctions but can instead enjoy 'fitting in.'"
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​You can take advantage of this in your own life by finding a community where the behavior change you are seeking is seen as a normal part of life. A second way this can influence you is by becoming aware of your current community and the people you surround yourself with.
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​If you are not spending time with people that support your habit, you may have to find a new community. Check out Episode 40: Building Social Connections for tips on making new connections. It can be a formalized group that comes together around behaviors you are trying to take on - like a gym or an art studio. Or something informal like a Meetup or Facebook group. You'll learn from the people around you, and the habits will seem normal because everyone is doing it.
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​A couple of things to keep in mind.
​This will take time. Not only will it take time to find a group that fits, but the change will take time, too. You don't magically become a different person overnight after joining a new group.
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​Also, remember that this works in the opposite direction. We can pickup and continue doing the behaviors that work against us if we hang out with people who are engaging in those behaviors.
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​Element Influenced: CRAVING. If the people you are surrounded by are all engaged in similar habits, you'll naturally want to do them too.

When we initially think about creating a new habit, motivation, and energy are high. So high, in fact, that we think it will be achievable without fail. We have a “go big or go home” mindset, and we have in mind what “counts.”
- All of our meals have to have a perfect balance of macros.
- We have to workout for an hour everyday.
- We have to complete beautiful works of art or write thousands of words every week.

But in reality, if behavior change were that easy (just making up our minds one day and doing the thing), then we would already be doing it. We have to let go of our mental blocks around what counts. We get to decide what counts and behavior needs to be so small you can’t say no. Progress is achieved through small consistent actions and to stay consistent, you have to start small.

Your motivation and energy (and time, sometimes) are unpredictable, so you can’t rely on them. What you have to rely on is your ability to complete the action.

So, how do you find a small version of the habit you are building?

Picture your worst day. You know the one - nothing is working in your favor, you're pressed for time, everyone is annoying, you're in a bad mood. All the things that can ruin a day. Then think of your new habit. On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you in your ability to complete this action? If it's anything less than an 8, the habit needs to be scaled down.

BJ Fogg in his book Tiny Habits further elaborates on this point by asking the Discover Question: What is making this behavior hard to do?

He identified five factors that affect your ability to perform an action that form your Ability Chain. And your Ability Chain is only as strong as its weakest factor:​

By analyzing these five factors, you can determine where you need to scale.
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​Each time you complete your tiny habit, it builds confidence and shows your brain (and your nasty inner critic) that you can do it. Your habit can grow from there. And on the days you feel like doing more - do more. There's nothing stopping you. But always do the minimum.
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​Element Influenced: RESPONSE. By starting small, you are making the response (or the behavior) easier.

Research shows that people with flexibility in their goals are more likely to accomplish more (complete the behavior more often) than those with more rigidity in achieving their goals or the expectation of completing the behavior every day.
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​Two ways to introduce flexibility:
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​"Emergency" Allotments
​Decide in advance how many times per week you are allowed to skip your habit because of unexpected events that pop up. This works in your favor in two ways: you’ll be more likely to complete the behavior on days that you can (especially earlier in the week) because you don’t know if you’ll need to miss later in the week. And second, if you do need to miss, you won’t feel like a failure because you’ve established free passes in your plan. You won’t view it the same way and will avoid a crisis of confidence.

Use a skipped day to reframe your "failure." Don't let a missed habit go to waste. Learn from it. If you have to use one of your emergency allotments, figure out why. Was it something truly out of your control? Or is it something, with the right kinds of plans in place, that could have been avoided?

Aim for 80%
The premise is simple. Success is completing the habit 80% of the time. 

In a 30-day month, you are completing the habit 24 times (meaning you get to miss 6 times)
Another way to look at it is that if you are changing your eating habits - many people eat three times a day, seven days a week, giving us 21 eating opportunities. If we want 80% of those to contain balanced macros, then we can have about four eating opportunities that are off the mark.

Aiming for 80% is also a way to signal that it’s time to grow our tiny habit. If you are hitting the mark 100% of the time without fail (for several weeks or at least a month), then it’s probably time to push yourself a little bit. However, if it’s less than 70%, then there's something standing in your way, and you need to review your ability chain to identify the weak link.

When you have to be accountable to someone or something, you are more likely to stay the course. There are infinite ways to find this accountability for yourself and the same technique won't work for everyone.
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​Here are a few to try:
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​Habit Tracking
​Every time you complete the habit or behavior, you make a note of it. The aim is to accumulate an unbroken streak of days of habit completion. And we know this works because we likely already have some form of digital technology is already doing this. The pull of not breaking the streak is enough to keep us engaging with the platform. Research shows that we come to see our streaks as possessions that we don't want to lose.
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​Your tracking system can be as simple or as complex as your habit and personality dictates. An effortless 'X' on a calendar or a daily photo is enough to maintain momentum. Others may want a spreadsheet or app that tracks multiple aspects of a habit - think food trackers apps or a multi-columned spreadsheet to log workouts.
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​You may notice that over time, because of measuring your progress, you start to upgrade your habit and improve it. For example, you want to get into the habit of reading every day. You may start with 10 minutes a day, crossing off each day you meet the minimum. It slowly grows to 15 or 20 minutes. You start logging the books you read and exploring new genres. Before you know it, you've read 50 books in a year and you regularly attend a book club. All because tracking keeps you accountable.
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​Commitment Devices
​Commitment devices are a great way to hold yourself accountable. This is a way to lock yourself into following a plan of action. The key is to set up the commitments in a "cold" state or when you are the most rational - not in the heat of the moment.
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​For example, planning meals and going grocery shopping (with a list) when you are not hungry or pressed for time. You've locked your meals in and have the supplies to make them in advance - instead of trying to figure out what to eat for dinner at 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday.
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Signing up for classes (gym or art) in advance locks you into going. It's even better if you can find classes with aggressive cancelation policies (like fees attached if you cancel at the last minute.

In one extreme example of commitment devices, there was a woman who wanted to get out of the habit of hitting snooze in the morning. Before going to bed the night before, she set an automatic email to send five minutes after her alarm went off that would reveal an embarrassing secret. To prevent the email from going out, she was forced to get out of bed and cancel the email.

Automation is another form of commitment device. It works particularly well with financial goals and habits. If you want to save more, set up automatic transfers. Companies are getting really good with helping employees in this area. You can have your paycheck directly deposited in multiple accounts. Some companies automatically enroll employees in the retirement program and go a step further with an annual bump in the percentage you invest. You are free to unenroll at any time and change anything about the way you are invested and it’s really easy to do. This completely eliminates any barrier to saving.

"Accountabilibuddy"
An "accountabilibuddy" or accountability partner is someone in your life that helps you stay on track and committed to your goals and habits. It could be a friend who meets you at the gym or someone you check in with to discuss your creative project.

There are also paid forms of accountability partners like trainers, coaches, and therapists. Focusmate is an online community that pairs you with another member of the platform for a scheduled time of focused work. Each member is visible on the screen while they are working (with the sound off). Setting up Focusmate sessions in advance can work as a commitment device. So, it's a two-fer!

When looking for an accountability partner, it's important to note that research shows that a spouse or intimate partner makes a poor source of accountability. The reason is that we see our partners as an extension of ourselves (especially the longer you've been together. The science is kinda sweet but it's not great for habits. If it were enough to be accountable only to ourselves, then we wouldn't need all this other stuff.

Element Influenced: CRAVING & REWARD 

During this show segment, we introduce four ways to interact with the material presented: A question to answer, a quest to complete, an aspect of creativity we've noticed this week, and a quote to ponder.

What is a behavior change strategy that you currently use? Or what is one that you want to try?

Try one of the behavior change strategies with a habit you are working on.

Reddit Group: Get Motivated Buddies. It’s a creative way to find an accountability partner.
The description of the community states: find one-on-one accountability partners for health and fitness, studying, work, and healthy habit building. 

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, that's why we recommend it daily."
​- Zig Zigler

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
Atomic Habits by James Clear
How to Change by Katy Milkman
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
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