You can build habits that improve your life without needing motivation or endless willpower and discipline. Here’s the simple formula to achieve it.

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Building new habits can be incredibly difficult.

Especially as we get older. We’re already set in our ways and have our routines baked in. We are who we are, right.

Something about old dogs being taught new tricks or something.

I had this goal of trying to read more books every single day. And I failed miserably by picking up my phone and mindlessly scrolling instead.

Instead of picking up a good book to escape or even learn something, I’d read thousands of random words from random influencers on social media.

And then I’d get annoyed at myself for not reading the actual book.

You’ve likely been there yourself.

Maybe it was book reading, or exercise, quitting porn, or overcoming a social media addiction.

Whatever it is, you’ve struggled to make a desired behavior an actual healthy habit.

Here is where that stops.

I started implementing the strategies that I’m going to share with you today.

It’s the same strategy that helped me put the phone down (we covered that in more depth with this newsletter) and then replace that mindless scrolling habit with a robust reading habit.

And now I’m reading more books than ever before.

If you’re looking to create a healthy habit (it doesn’t have to be reading, maybe it’s exercise or healthy eating) today you’re going to finally learn how to build habits that improve your life … that actually last for life.

Let’s get into it.

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You don’t need super discipline to build better habits

Stop trying to white-knuckle your way through willpower when it comes to creating a new habit.

Habits should not feel like a punishment. They shouldn’t make you miserable.

That’s where I failed with my initial approach to reading more.

My big lofty goal was to put the phone down and spend one hour per day reading.

But it wasn’t just about the time, I was convinced that I had to read more nonfiction to “educate” myself.

The thinking was that if I wanted to write about personal growth and productivity, I should read more books about self-improvement and productivity.

Boring.

Because it was boring, I was not looking forward to doing it.

There was no motivation to read a few pages of another self-help book, let alone commit to a solid hour of it.

So I’d find something else to do instead (like doomscroll).

I had to get really clear on if I even wanted to read more books in the first place, since I kept putting it off.

Maybe it was the type of books I was pursuing? Or maybe I set a goal that was just unattainable.

Either way, something was off in my approach.

Once I determined that yes, I actually did want to read more, it was up to me to figure out a better way.

Here are the three things to do to build habits that improve your life

In the book, Tiny Habits, author B.J. Fogg breaks down the science of habit creation into this simple formula:

B = MAP

Behavior = Motivation to do the behavior + Ability to do the behavior + Prompt to do the behavior

Motivation is fleeting and will fade, which is why you must quickly develop a system to keep you consistent for the days when motivation is not cutting it.

Making the habit as small and simple as possible (especially in the beginning) will satisfy your ability to do the behavior.

The prompt is your signal (or cue) to do the actual behavior.

This could be a simple reminder on your phone or a new behavior stacked with an older/existing behavior (like doing some push-ups while the coffee brews in the morning as part of my microworkout strategy to get in shape with limited time).

As Fogg explains:

“Keeping changes small and expectations low is how you design around fair-weather friends like motivation and willpower. When something is tiny, it’s easy to do–which means you don’t need to rely on the unreliable nature of motivation.”
–– B.J. Fogg, Tiny Habits

If you are not able to make a habit stick, then there’s something in this B=MAP equation that is not working for you. Now you have a way to troubleshoot it.

We’ll look at this in more detail so you can take it and build better habits consistently:

1) Make the habit easier to achieve

One of my fitness/nutrition students came to me and was complaining about a lack of motivation to do the 10 minute workouts we designed for her.

So I shortened the workouts to just performing a round of air squats.

At first, she laughed at me. But I told her to trust the process and let’s just start with something so small that it would feel embarrassing to miss.

She started hitting one set of air squats every single morning after she walked her dog.

After about one month of consistency, I had her slowly increase the number of squats.

Then, I added more exercises.

After the round of squats, she was to perform one short set of push-ups.

We took this slow-moving progression in her workouts and eventually built up to a full-body workout that takes just 10 to 15 minutes.

She ended up being my most consistent student.

Why this works:

If the behavior or project is too difficult, we get overwhelmed, anxiety builds and then we quit because things are just too intimidating.

Building healthy habits that improve your life can actually be simple if you can find your Goldilocks Range:

Not too difficult, not too easy, but enough of a challenge to keep you engaged and interested.

That’s where the magic happens.

My book reading goal of one hour per day absorbing all of the nonfiction, self-improvement genre was too much. So I found every reason to skip it.

I made it easier by setting a simple goal of reading one page of any book that I wanted. Even fiction. It no longer felt as daunting to read.

Make it easy.

2) Determine your prompt for the habit

Your prompt is just the cue or trigger that reminds you to get going with that desired habit.

It can be something as simple as whenever you walk through your bedroom door, you commit to doing 10 bodyweight squats.

The most powerful way to ensure you stick with the habit is to schedule it.

We call this the implementation intention.

By scheduling your habit, you set the intention for when you plan to implement the desired habit.

“On Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. you will perform your weekly strength training workout for 45-60 minutes” (here’s how to shorten your workout time to just one hour per week).

Now you’ve got a solid plan and can easily hold yourself accountable to that plan.

It’s literally in your calendar to perform the habit.

3) Identify the obstacles and barriers holding you back from making this new behavior consistent

If it were as easy as just coming up with a desired habit and scheduling it, we’d all be the best versions of ourselves.

But you and I both know that life don’t work that way.

There will be plenty of obstacles and challenges that rear their ugly heads to try and prevent this desired behavior from becoming a full-fledged healthy habit.

You’ll get pulled away by everything from kids to the email inbox to news headlines to HR emails, doctor visits and school extracurricular activities.

It’s your job to sit down every single week and do your best to plan ahead for those potential obstacles.

Maybe this week, Tuesday is not a good day for your weekly strength training workout because your son’s class is having a thing you need to attend that morning, which throws off the rest of your day.

What is the alternative?

Can you workout for 30 minutes instead of the full 60? Remember, even the bare minimum carries the momentum so you can live to flight another day.

Or do you need to move your weekly strength training session to Wednesday or Thursday instead?

Will that work lunch on Friday mess up your goal of eating one healthy balanced plated meal every single workday this week?

If so, what can you do to be good enough?

The most successful habit builders are the ones that plan ahead, schedule ahead and that always avoid letting perfect be the enemy of progress.

Create rules and systems to keep momentum

Even after you’ve simplified your behavior, life is still going to happen.

You’re going to have days where even the minimum effective dose feels like an Olympic sport to achieve.

At least once or twice per week, I’m not in the mood to workout. But I do it anyway because I’ve developed systems to keep me consistent.

Here are a couple to help you out:

1) Never miss twice

Consistency and momentum are the key to victory if you want to build habits that improve your life.

This rule ensures both consistency and momentum are satisfied.

We’ve all been there when life gets in the way of our goals and routines. And sometimes that means we forget or just can’t get to that habit today.

No worries.

But with the “never miss twice” rule you’re going to commit to never missing consecutive days. If you skipped today for whatever reason, you cannot skip tomorrow.

Even if what you do tomorrow is like half or even quarter speed. It’s more than nothing.

You’ve made a commitment to yourself and your goals to show up. And that goes a long way towards building life-long habits that stick.

2) Ride your energy waves

Your energy likely fluctuates throughout your day. I know that I’m far more creative in the mornings than I am in the afternoons.

So I ride my own energy wave.

My mornings are blocked off for creative tasks (like writing this newsletter and creating social media content).

Late mornings and early afternoons are for client calls and any meetings I might have scheduled.

The afternoons are more process-oriented and administrative tasks.

You are not the same person after eight hours of creating and responding and working. Keep that in mind when determining your cues and prompts for habits.

Don’t decide to start a reading habit at night if you’re constantly drained and will never get around to it.

Maybe you’d be better off pairing your desired reading habit with your slow morning routine and a nice cup of coffee.

If you are more creative in the late evenings after the kids go to bed, don’t try to force morning pages into your routine because some random influencer convinced you that’s the only way to be successful.

Think about how your energy, creativity and productivity fluctuates throughout the day and act accordingly.

That’s how you’ll build habits that improve your life … and actually stay consistent with those new habits … for life.

I hope you found this useful. If so, I’d appreciate it if you sent this newsletter to one person you think would benefit from my writing today.

And if you’re new here and enjoyed this newsletter, I’d be honored if you subscribed for more at this link.

And as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “build habits that improve your life” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Until next time,
Pete