Mastery Comes With Consistent Practice

It’s hard to stay consistent. In fact, researchers suggest that only 9% of Americans that make resolutions complete them.

Research goes on to show that 23% of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week, and 43% quit by the end of January.

Habits are the cornerstones of success. Most overnight successes took years of repetition and reiteration. Put it simply, if you don’t have good habits, you won’t have good results.

Habits make or break you, depending on which ones you choose.

Eat junk food everyday for a year and you get fat.
Eat healthy food everyday for a year and you get ripped.

It’s as simple as that.

Yet, it’s not so easy, isn’t it?

My Failed Attempts at Consistent Habits

I’ve had a hard time being consistent in good habits and breaking bad habits.

A few years ago, I tried sleeping earlier so I could have enough energy to last the next day.

After 2–3 nights of progress, I’d end up sleeping late again.

This continued countless times. And I got sick of it.

I tried different tactics:

• setting a sleep alarm

• using ‘screentime’ so I couldn’t use my phone

• forcing myself to ‘wake up earlier’

They worked… but I ended up sleeping late anyway.

I needed a way to be consistent.

And that’s when I applied the 4 Rules of Habits by James Clear in his book ‘Atomic Habits’

The 4 Rules of Habits

1. Make it obvious

2. Make it easy

3. Make it attractive

4. Make it satisfying

Make it obvious

Making it obvious means making the visual cue of the habit easier to spot.

For example, if you want to build a writing habit, place your notebook and pen on your table at all times.

As for going to bed on time, I needed a different approach.

For this, I made sure that the bed was only used for sleeping. I could use a chair for other things like reading a book or playing the guitar.

But the bed meant it was solely and obviously meant for sleeping.

This association made it easier for my brain to know that bed = sleep.

Make it Easy

I realized that I set too high of a standard. Sleeping at 8:30pm was too high of an expectation.

Instead of that, I aimed to sleep at 10:30pm, which is reasonable.

Then, gradually making my bed time earlier by 30 minutes every 1–2 weeks.

This meant that the challenge level was far lower than what I can handle.

The easier it is to do, the less friction it is for me to get to bed on time.

Make it Attractive

This one was difficult. Going to sleep ins’t really attractive unless you’re very tired.

So I tried making my evening routine attractive by having something fun but also relaxing.

I chose: guitar and reading a book.

By doing so, I’m not using my phone and I’m preparing my brain to relax.

I looked forward to my evening routine because I get to do something I actually want to do.

Make it Satisfying

While reading and playing the guitar was satisfying itself, I had a hard time stopping. I’d end up staying up late because I was enjoying the guitar and my books too much!

So, I added another thing to my evening routine: meditation.

By meditating, I’m relaxing my brain and letting it relax.

The relaxation feeling is satisfying as I let go of all the stresses I’ve experienced throughout the day.

I also journalled to reflect on what happened that day — to get rid of any thoughts that kept me up at night.

By meditating and journaling, I fell asleep faster and enjoyed the feeling of relaxation.

Summary

Habits are important. They make or break you.

To build good habits, follow the 4 rules of habit formation:

1. Make it obvious: bed = sleep

2. Make it easy: lower standards and gradually increase

3. Make it attractive: reading and guitar

4. Make it satisfying: meditation and journaling

I hope this helped! If you enjoyed this article, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter: the-arlo-letter.beehiiv.com