“Outer order contributes to inner calm.” — Gretchen Rubin

“We are what we repeatedly do every day. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Will Durant

“Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.” — W.H. Auden

“Inspiration will help you take the first step. Habits will get you across the finish line.” — Zander Fryer

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest.” — James Clear

“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” — F. Matthias Alexander

[@curreyDailyRitualsHow2013]

“The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.”

“Habits and practice are very interrelated. What we practice will become a habit.” ― Thomas M. Sterner, The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process

“Only habits of order are formed can we advance to really interesting fields of action — and consequently accumulate grain on grain of willful choice like a very miser — never forgetting how one link dropped undoes an indefinite number. The more of the details of our daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism, the more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work. There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision, and for whom the lighting of every cigar, the drinking of every cup, the time of rising and going to bed every day, and the beginning of every bit of work are subjects of express volitional deliberation. Full half the time of such a man goes to the deciding or regretting of matters which ought to be so ingrained in him as practically not to exist for his consciousness at all. If there be such daily duties not yet ingrained in any one of my hearers, let him begin this very hour to set the matter right.” — excepts from Daily Rituals by Mason Currey ¹

Routines are habits layered on top of each other.

Your habits are the silent architects of your life. How you spend your days is how you spend your life.

Repeating a particular motion sixty times a day over twenty-one days will form a new habit.

The Personal Paradigm Shift

A single habit or lifestyle change that has an outsized impact on everything else in your life.

Intention → Action → Practice → Consistency → Habit → Simply Who You Are

The 95% Compliance Rule by Sahil Bloom

Focus on 95% compliance with any routine. It’s high enough to get the benefits of the structure, but leaves room for the 5% chaos where a lot of incredible memories are made.

More often than not (= usually)

Types of Habits

• Keystone Habits [@duhiggPowerHabitWhy2014]
  • Habits that…
    • set off a chain reaction that extends to all aspects of a person’s life
    • lead to a cascade of other habits that are much easier to accomplish
    • act as an anchor, grounding your boat to the ocean floor so it doesn’t get pulled out to sea during a tumultuous storm
  • 建立一個核心習慣，自然帶動其他好行為
    • 例如：每天運動 → 睡得更好 → 飲食更健康
  • 「上游習慣」會順水推舟「下游習慣」
• Bookend Habits
  • Habits that tightly structure the beginning and ending of your day
    • AM Bookend: The morning ritual that primes you for productivity
    • PM Bookend: The evening ritual that primes you for recovery
  • Analogy
    • Books on a shelf will topple over if you don’t give them support. Bookends provide structure on either end to keep the books in their best state! The contents of your days are like a set of books. You can never predict what will happen during the course of a day. Some days will have you toppling left, and other days you’ll topple right. But by creating your own set of “bookends”, you set up yourself to be better supported and show up at your best every day.
  • Create a positive ripple effect and help set the tone for a smooth and productive day.
• Micro Habits
  • Habit that are small, often subtle actions that occur almost unconsciously, yet they have the potential to significantly influence our state of mind.
  • They happen at a moment called “The Point of Contact”

Good habits are hard to form, but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to form, but hard to live with.

The costs of your good habits are in the present. The costs of your bad habits are in the future.

Time will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.

Good habits stockpile ease. Bad habits postpone pain.

Building Good Habits

Philosophy: Everyday is easier than someday.

“If you have good habits, time becomes your ally. All you need is patience.” — James Clear

Why is it so important to form good habits? They allow you to offload cognitive resources, enabling routine operations to run automatically in the background (背景處理) while you focus on other life demands.

Good habits have a “blast radius” — Those around you are watching. Be a light for those looking to grow.

When determining the size or complexity of a new habit ask yourself: “What can I stick to—even on my worst day?” Start there. Master the art of showing up. Then advance.

Have “Accountability Partners”

• Or: Public Commitment Pledge

Breaking/Replacing Bad Habits

Philosophy: None is better than sum.

There are 3 ways to break a bad habit.

1. Eliminate it entirely.
2. Reduce it.
3. Substitute it. ²

Golden Rule: Don’t resist craving, redirect it; keeping the cue and the reward and just replacing the routine.

“Cold turkey” refers to suddenly and completely stopping a habit or addiction, especially something like smoking, drinking, or drug use, without tapering off (gradual quitting) or using substitutes. It’s often used when someone decides to quit abruptly, with no gradual reduction or medical aid.

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The phrase can also be used metaphorically, like: **“I went cold turkey on social media.”** Meaning the person quit all at once.
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Quitting cold turkey can be effective but also intense, often leading to withdrawal symptoms depending on what’s being quit.