30 Days of ZooFit: Habit Building 101

I’m re-reading a favorite book of mine, Level Up Your Life by Steve Kamb, and just finished giving a class on Building Habits for North Sound Writers. These have reminded me of my lessons from ZooFit for building habits.

As I start a 30 day writing/fitness challenge, I recall how important habits are in our daily lives. Whether it’s eating habits, fitness habits, habits to take care of ourselves, or habits to improve our lives, they are the building block to success.

I am an avid fan of Brian Johnson, whose website Optimize has changed my life. In his Master class Habits 101, Brian discusses his big ideas of building and creating habits.

1. Use Willpower Wisely- Willpower is finite, but by developing habits that run on autopilot, we can use our willpower for more difficult challenges
2. Remember the Fundamentals (Eat, Move, Sleep)- Get your fundamentals in order, and so many other aspects in our lives can improve. 
3. Install Your Keystone Habit- A Keystone Habit is the most important, most beneficial to your life. Like a keystone in an archway, our Keystone habit holds our other behavior together.
4. Destroy Your Kryptonite Habit- Kinda like the opposite of a Keystone habit, Kryptonite habits are the most destructive to our lives and well-being. Working on eliminating our Kryptonite will make us more productive, healthy, and happy overall.
5. Discover Your Why- How will your new habit benefit you. The more immediate and direct the results, the more likely it is to stick. Look into why you want this change so badly and why this particular habit is so important.
6. Do It Daily- Did you know it’s easier to commit to doing something EVERYDAY than it is to say you will do something “more often”? So, when you start developing a new habit, do it EVERY DAY. Never miss a day. And if you do, absolutely never miss a second day.
7. Make It Easy- Break your habit into smaller stages/steps.  Start small, so simple you cannot fail. Gradually increase until you are doing your new habit like clockwork, and effortlessly.
8. If-Then-Trigger-Cues- I use a lot of If-Then statements and cues/triggers in ZooFit. When I’m in the grocery store, I incorporate it to eat healthier and to make more environmentally conscious choices. “If this food I want to eat has palm oil, then I will put it back on the shelf.” “If the package is wrapped in plastic, then I will not buy it.” I am also working on creating behavior chains with triggers and cues. ZooFit helps create these thought processes easily through planning and reinforcement. Cues really work on jump starting a healthy habit.
   
9. Embrace the Process-  Developing a habit has three phases- first it’s UNBEARABLE. You hate the new habit and change to your routine. The next phase is UNCOMFORTABLE. You don’t want to do it all the time, but you see the benefits. Then comes UNSTOPPABLE. My husband, an artist, has been practicing daily art for over five years. FIVE YEARS, without missing a day! You couldn’t pay him to skip a day of doing art. He does it on vacation, when he went to the hospital, and on busy days. Embrace the first two stages and push through so you can feel the “tiger’s blood” afterward.
10. Get Your Mind Right- Henry Ford once said “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” Learn from your mistakes but whatever you do, don’t give up. Persistence and passion will help you gain the determination to succeed.

Starting a 30 Day challenge to share how ZooFit helps us meet fitness goals and save the planet requires a bit of dedication. It shows how my habits have become a part of me.

Here’s to healthy habits, a healthy you, and a healthy planet.