Make Habits Second Nature: The Art of Habit Stacking

Make Habits Second Nature: The Art of Habit Stacking

Being consistent is one of the most important aspects of achieving success in life. Consistency means doing things regularly, without fail, and with a focus on improvement. Whether it’s maintaining a healthy lifestyle, staying organised, or pursuing a long-term goal, consistency is key. 


The more consistent you are, the easier it is to form positive habits. Consistency leads to steady progress towards your goals, making them easier to attain. It builds up self-efficacy and confidence in your abilities, which encourages you to keep going even when things get tough.


Despite consistent effort having many positive benefits, we have all at some point in time found it difficult to stay consistent. We have experienced falling in the loop of picking up an activity, staying consistent for a little while and falling off the wagon only to start again and repeat the pattern.


This happens because we are easily distracted and chase instant gratification. In the fast moving life of the digital age, our brains are trained for the dopamine kick from instant results. However, most good things in life do not show results immediately and require consistent practice over a period of time. That is why it is important for us to stay focussed and learn the art of consistency.


Some ways you can incorporate consistency into your daily routine are - starting small, setting realistic goals, staying accountable, creating a routine and habit stacking. 


What is Habit Stacking?


Habit stacking is a method of building new habits by attaching them to existing habits. This makes it easier to incorporate new habits into our routine and helps to establish them as a permanent part of our daily routine. For example, if we want to start reading for 30 minutes before bed, we would stack this new habit onto our existing bedtime routine such as brushing our teeth or journalling. By doing this, we are making it easier to remember and stick to our new habit.


How Habit Stacking Works


  • Identify our current habits: we can start by identifying our existing habits and routines. This could be anything from brushing our teeth to watching TV after dinner.
  • Choose a new habit: next we choose a new habit we want to incorporate into our life and decide where we want to stack it.
  • Stack the new habit: Attach the new habit to the existing habit by performing the new habit immediately after the existing habit. For example, if we want to start doing push-ups every day, we could stack this habit onto our existing morning routine by doing push-ups immediately after brushing our teeth.
  • Repeat daily: we need to repeat the habit stack every day until it becomes a permanent part of our routine.

Benefits of Habit Stacking


  • Ease of implementation: Habit stacking makes it easier to incorporate new habits into our routine because they are attached to existing habits.
  • Increased motivation: By stacking new habits on top of existing habits, we are more likely to stick to them and feel motivated to continue.
  • Better habit formation: Stacking habits together helps to create a chain reaction, making it easier to form new habits and stick to them.

In conclusion, habit stacking is a simple and effective method for building good habits. By stacking new habits onto existing habits, we make it easier to remember and stick to them. By repeating the habit stack daily, we can make our new habits a permanent part of our daily routine.

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