#Habits May 3

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Today I am listening to an episode for the 30-Day PODCAST Coach4aday Challenge on HABITS.

Day 3 Podcast

My podcast today is Unlocking Us with Brene Brown. The specific episode features James Clear who is an author. The title of the episode is called James Clear on Atomic Habits. Atomic Habits is book that he wrote in 2018 that has really influenced me. I have written about concepts in this book in previous posts

Prior to this podcast I never realized that Clear was a NCAA Division III Academic All-American Baseball Player at Denison University.

Day 3 Podcast takeaway

James Clear talks about how lucky he was to have great teammates at Denison. He realizes the significance of who is on our teams but more importantly appreciates that gift.

Change takes place in small incremental steps. It is consistency not silver bullets that change us.

“Every habit we take on is a vote for the type of person we want to become”

The myth buster he reveals is to a question he was asked by Brene Brown.

Brene Brown QUESTION: Okay, let’s build a habit. First of all, what do we get wrong about habits? Before we go in to build it, what’s the mythology that we need to dispel?

James Clear ANSWER: I think a very common thing that people talk about is, how long does it take to build a habit? Does it take 21 days or 30 days or 90 days?

And I think the upside of the challenge like that is that it can get you moving, it can get you started, so there’s nothing wrong with that. But the downside is it implicitly tells you that there is a finish line to be crossed, that, “Be healthy for 30 days and then you won’t have to worry about it anymore,” or “Do this thing for 21 days and then it’ll be fixed.” But I think the real answer, the honest answer to how long does it take to build a habit is forever, because if you stop doing it, then it’s no longer a habit.

Transcript of entire podcast on Habits can be found here