The HabitSystem
The HabitSystem

  1. The Seed

    1. 01Introduction2 min
    2. 02What Is The HabitSystem?3 min
    3. 03How Does The HabitSystem Work?6 min

  2. The Roots1

    1. 04The Root Cause of Habit Problems14 min
    2. 05The Solution: Action and Simplicity1 min
    3. 06Element #1: Action5 min
    4. 07Element #2: Simplicity11 min

  3. The Trunk2

    1. 08Element #3: Daily Repetition5 min
    2. 09Habit Taxonomy18 min
    3. 10Element #4: Tracking5 min
    4. 11Habit Tracking 10111 min
    5. 12Weathering a Storm: How to Skip Habits Beneficially5 min
    6. 13Pruning and Trimming: How To Deal with Bad Habits4 min

  4. The Crown3

    1. 14Element #5: The Habit Journey15 min
    2. 15The Habits29 min
    3. 16Mini Projects8 min
    4. 17Behavioral Habits4 min
    5. 18Mindset Habits3 min
    6. 19How To Set Up Your HabitSystem7 min

  5. Your System

    1. ✦Habit Tracker

The Roots1 min

The Solution: Action and Simplicity

How to Make New Approaches Sustainable

When our sources of energy—willpower—are in short supply, and if motivation gets us only so far, the HabitSystem is the solution. It is a long-term process of making sustainable change possible. When I talk about the process of implementing habits, I am talking about the process of sustainable change. Short-term change is not something I would consider a success, because it does not create new habits nor does it result in long-term growth. What really counts is whether change occurs in the long run.

If I were a heavy drug addict (I am not), being drug-free for one day would certainly be something to be proud of; but ultimately, the only thing that would really make a difference in my life would be whether I could stop taking drugs in the following days, weeks, months, and years.

Many things are needed first before long-term growth or change can be sustained. On one hand, it might seem great that I went to the gym every single day for two hours for a whole week. I might look back and think, What a great accomplishment! But in reality, for a habit to last, it must have its foundation, its roots, and all of the Core Elements. Otherwise, motivation runs out, and we revert back to our default. As soon as I stop going to the gym every single day for two hours, all those workouts would have had an overall zero effect.

These examples demonstrate short-term change—which is unsustainable. This type of change is insignificant because it does not promote personal growth in any meaningful way. That brief window during which you worked out may have felt good then, but imagine feeling good about working out consistently, and really seeing tangible results.

In the next section, we will cover the first two ingredients that make long-term results possible: Action and Simplicity.