Dinesh Kumar > Recent Status Updates

The Downside of creating good habits

* Upside - Can do things without thinking.
* Downside - We stop paying attention to minor errors.

* Habits + Delibrate practice = Mastery.

* Reflection and review are the processes that allow you to remain conscious of your performance over time.

* The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it.

The Goldilocks rule:

* Humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities.

* The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.

* As habits become routine, they become less interesting and less satisfying. We get bored.

* Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It's the ability to keep going when work isn't exciting.

Advanced tactics

* The secret to max ur odds of success is to choose the right field of competition.

* Right habit - easy progress, wrong habit - struggle life.

* Habits are easier when they align with ur natural abilities.

* Play a game that favors ur strength, if u can't find a game that favors u, create one.

* Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.

How an accountability partner can change everything.

* The inversion of 4th law of behavior change is make it unsatisfying.

* We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.

* An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care what others think of us.

* A habit contract can be used to add a social cost to any behavior.

How to stick with good habits every day.

* One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress.

* A habit tracker is a simple way to measure.

Eg:
Marking X on a calendar.
Transferring paper clips from one jar to another.

* Habit trackers can make your habits satisfying by providing clear evidence of progress.

* Don't break the chain.

* Never miss a streak twice.

The cardinal rule of behavior change

* The 4th law - Make it satisfying.

* We repeat the behavior when the experience is satisfying.

* The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed ones.

* Immediately rewarded - repeated,
Immediately punished - avoided.

* To make a habit stick, we need to feel immediately successful even if it is in a small way.

How to make good habits inevitable & bad habits impossible

* The inversion of 3rd law of behavior change:make it difficult.

* A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future.

* The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.

* One time Investment leads to deliver increasing returns over time.

* Use technology to automate your habits.

The law of least effort!

* Human behavior follows the law of least effort. We always slide towards the option that requires least effort.

* Create an environment where doing the right thing as easy as possible.

* Reduce friction -> Good behaviors. (Easy)

* Increase friction -> Bad behaviors. (Difficult)

* Prime your environment to make the future actions easier.

3rd law: Make it easy.

Walk slowly, but never backward

* The effective form of learning smtg is by practice, not by planning.

* Focus on taking action, not being in motion.

* it's more important how frequently we are doing than how time (duration) we are doing.

* Behavior becomes automatic through repeatations.

How to find & fix the causes of your bad habits

* Inversion of 2nd law - Behavior change to Unattractive.

* 2 levels of craving (Surface & Deeper)

* Our habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.

* The cause of our habits is actually the prediction that precedes them and that leads to feeling.

* Bad habits - Make it Unattractive

* Create a motivation ritual by doing smtg you enjoy immediately.

The role of family & friends in shaping ur habits

* The culture we live determines the behavior are attractive to us.

* We adopt habits that are praised, respected & approved by the culture - Attractive.

* We imitate the habits of

The close
The many
The powerful

* Join a culture where

1. Your desired behavior is the normal behavior.

2. You already have something in common with the group

2nd law - Make it attractive.

How to make habits irresistible

* Make an opportunity attractive, so it will more likely become a habit.

* It's all about anticipation of the ending tasks, not the fulfillment of it.

So, improve the anticipation of the tasks to greater success.

* Temptation building is one way to make our habits more attractive.

* Pair an action you want to do, with an action you need to do.

The secret to Self-control:

* This is the inversion of 1st law,
To break a bad habit, reduce exposure to the cue that causes it.

* Make it invisible.

* Spend less time in tempting situations. It's easier to avoid temptation than resist it.

* Self-control is a short term strategy, not a long term one.

Motivation is overrated; Environment often matters more.

* Kurt Lewin: Behavior is a function of the Person in their environment.
B = f(P,E)

* Designing our environment which triggers the cue for habits, will itself build that habits in us strongly, no need for any external Motivation required.

* Splitting the places for a specific tasks, instead of mixing/doing everything in a same place/location.

The Best way to start a new habit.

1. Implementation intention:

I will [behavior] at [time] in [location].


2. Habit stacking:

After [current habit], I will [new habit].

The Man who didn't look right

* With practice, we will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without our conscious thinking.

* Once the cues becomes habit, it will be in the autopilot mode.

* Behavior change will be done by the awareness of your current habits.

* Pointing and calling is the most efficient way of behaviors. Converting from non conscious habit to conscious actions.

3. How to build Better Habits in 4 simple steps.

* When we repeatedly doing some practice again and again (habits), that behavior becomes automatic.

* The purpose to reach the Optimum automatic level is to solve the problems with little energy and efforts.

* 4 simple steps:
-> Cue (Obvious)
-> Craving (Attractive)
-> Response (Easy)
-> Reward (Satisfy).

2. How you habits shapes your Identity (and vice versa)

* 3 levels of changes:
-> Outcome level
-> Process level
-> Identity level (*)

* The effective way to change our habits is to focus not on what we want to achieve, instead who we wish to become.

* Identity is something that we believes, recognize and visualizing ourselves.

*We can always update/upgrade our Identity.

The Fundamentals

1. The surprising power of atomic habits.

* Getting 1% better every day improves a lot for a long time.

* 1% better daily for a year = 37 times better at it.
1% worse daily for a year = nearly equals to 0.

* Small changes appear no difference till reaches its threshold. So be patient.

* Don't focus on Goals, instead focus on the system.

1. THE RIGHT ATTITUDE

"Nobody has seen 'form'. It's a state of mind where you are confident and you think positively.

It's not what happens to you, it's how you react to it

Success is all about conditioning your mind.

If you practice a shot 100 times, only then will you be confident about it. That confidence will give you + attitude. Confidence without hard work is fake confidence.

I really appreciate Sfruti, that how much she admires Dhoni and also the way she boosts the curiosity of readers with her words and experiences.

My takeaway today:

The differentiating factor bw being Successful and being Winner.

The Mindset is the winner attitude.

If a person can control his mind, he can control much of anything in the universe.

Try toh Karo!