Indieconf 2012: How to Form Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

James Clear gave the first talk I attended on Saturday morning. It was all about good and bad habits and how we can form and break them. When it comes to habits we can’t rely on willpower alone. It generally fails us. Instead, James explained how we can use the 3 R’s, reminders, routines, and rewards, to shape our habits in a positive way.

Keys to creating a good habit:

  • tie it to a current behavior
  • keep it as simple as possible
  • reverse the response (celebrate rather than suffer)

Keys to breaking a bad habit:

  • understand what causes it (why did it start?)
  • understand why we do it (what is the reward?)
  • create a new routine that results in the same reward

James then explained how tht 3 R’s of personal habits hold true for the business of freelancing as well:

  • “We think we decide our life, but it’s often designed for us.”
  • “We design customer behaviors whether we want to or not.”
  • “Customer decisions are guided by the information they are sent.”

He recommended two books for further learning: “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg and “Switch” by the Heath Bros. He also recommends stickK, an app that uses a rather unique approach to helping us set and meet our goals.

Tomorrow I’ll share what I learned from Pepper Oldziey’s talk titled “The Simple Logic of SEO.”

This post is one in a series from Indieconf 2012

2 thoughts on “Indieconf 2012: How to Form Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

  1. Hey James, thanks for the comment. I came away with so much information from Indieconf that I’m having trouble processing it all, but one habit I want to cultivate in my own life is better organization so now I have an excuse to use your suggestions.

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