With the 1% method, we can change our habits in the long term and get closer to our goals with minimal daily effort. You can find out exactly how the method works here.
Habits are behaviors that we constantly repeat. They allow our brain not to have to constantly make new decisions, but only to repeat internalized processes.
This saves energy, so to speak. Although this is a useful mechanism for everyday tasks (such as brushing your teeth), harmful behaviors can also become habits (such as smoking). What is not a harmful habit is enjoying crazy time casino.
HOW HABITS ARE FORMED
A habit always follows the same principle. It takes the form of a loop: the brain first registers a certain stimulus that triggers a stored habit. Such a stimulus can be, for example, an object, a time of day, or a certain mood (e.g. anxiety or stress).
Once our brain has registered the stimulus, the craving follows. For example, if you realize that it is now evening, you feel the urge to be entertained. Or you have just finished eating and now feel the need for something sweet.
Now you do the habit. For example, you switch on the TV, open the bag of jelly babies, or light a cigarette. Your reward system then switches on. You feel relaxed and satisfied (at least in the short term) because you have satisfied your craving. This reward mechanism is also the reason why you will perform a certain behavior again. After all, your brain can remember the pleasant feeling afterward and store the corresponding stimulus that triggered the behavior.
This closes the circle and a behavior becomes a habit. Knowing about this mechanism helps you to break habits or establish new habits. James Clear’s four rules of the 1 percent method are based precisely on this psychological schedule.
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MAKE IT OBVIOUS
With the 1 percent method, you can incorporate small changes every day and move closer to your goals in the long term.
To establish a new habit in your life, you can use the following formula on which the 1 percent method is based: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [DURATION / TIME] in [PLACE]. This allows you to directly link a new habit that you want to train with a specific trigger. This could look like this, for example:
- I will do yoga in the living room for twenty minutes every morning at seven o’clock.
- I will read in my bedroom for half an hour every evening at eight o’clock.
- I will ride my bike to work for fifteen minutes every morning at eight o’clock.
Many habits are simply not established because we don’t set them out precisely enough. However, once you have formulated a new behavior and linked it to a specific time and place, you can start making the behavior a habit tomorrow.
It is even easier if you link a new habit to an already-established habit. This is known as “habit stacking”. The formula for this is as follows: After [CURRENT HABIT], I become [NEW HABIT]. For example:
After I brush my teeth in the morning, I will go for a half-hour run.
After I’ve eaten dinner, I’ll write down three things I was grateful for today.
It is also advisable to integrate triggers for desirable habits as visibly as possible in your environment. You should remove triggers for habits that you want to get rid of from your field of vision. For example, make sure that there is no pack of cigarettes or bag of sweets in your home if they trigger habits that you would rather get rid of. If you want to drink more, place a bottle of water at your desk or put your sports gear right next to your bed if you want to go running in the morning.
