Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness

249 Pages·2017·1.25 MB·English

by  S.J. Scott

HABIT STACKING

127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth,

and Happiness

(The 2nd Edition)

Steve “S.J.” Scott

www.DevelopGoodHabits.com

Habit Stacking Copyright © 2017 by Oldtown Publishing LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in
reviews.

Disclaimer

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying or recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, or transmitted by email without
permission in writing from the publisher.

While all attempts have been made to verify the information provided in this
publication, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for
errors, omissions, or contrary interpretations of the subject matter herein.

This book is for entertainment purposes only. The views expressed are those of
the author alone, and should not be taken as expert instruction or commands.
The reader is responsible for his or her own actions.

Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, including international,
federal, state, and local governing professional licensing, business practices,
advertising, and all other aspects of doing business in the US, Canada, or any
other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the purchaser or reader.

Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility or liability
whatsoever on the behalf of the purchaser or reader of these materials.

Any perceived slight of any individual or organization is purely unintentional.

Contents

Contents

Your Free Gift

Join the DGH Community

PART I: INTRODUCTION

The Power of Small Actions

Habit Stacking: A Quick Definition

PART II: GOALS AND HOW THEY RELATE TO HABITS

Why Goals Are Important

12 Goal-Specific Questions to Ask Yourself

3 Types of Habits (and Why Each Is Important)

PART III: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HABIT STACKING

Problem #1: “I often don’t feel motivated.”

Problem #2: “I can’t remember to complete many small actions.”

Solution: Use Habit Stacking to Build Powerful Routines

PART IV: GETTING STARTED WITH HABIT STACKING

My Habit Stacking Routine (11 Small Actions)

9 Rules to Build a Habit Stacking Routine

13 Steps for Building a Habit Stacking Routine

4 Questions about Habit Stacking

About the 127 Small Actions Covered in This Book

PART V: CAREER HABITS (#1 to #20)

PART VI: FINANCE HABITS (#21 to #39)

PART VII: HEALTH HABITS (#40 to #60)

PART IIX: LEISURE HABITS (#61 to #74)

PART IX: ORGANIZING HABITS (#75 to #90)

PART X: RELATIONSHIP HABITS (#91 to #108)

PART XI: SPIRITUALITY HABITS (#109 to #127)

PART XII: BUILDING LIFELONG HABIT STACKS

9 Example Habit Stacking Routines

6 Challenges That Might Be Holding You Back

Habit Stacking (a Quick Recap)

Final Thoughts on Habit Stacking

One Last Reminder …

Thank You!

More Books by Steve

Your Free Gift

As a way of saying thanks for your purchase, I’m offering a free report that’s
exclusive to readers of Habit Stacking.

With the Habit Stacking Quick Start Guide, you’ll discover a printable reference
guide of all the rules, steps and a list of the 127 habits you can use to implement
the following strategy. Everything you need to get started with habit stacking is
included in the PDF that’s part of the free companion website.

>> Tap Here to Grab the Habit Stacking Quick Start Guide <<

www.developgoodhabits.com/stacking_website

Hyperlinks Included in This Book

The digital version of Habit Stacking includes over a hundred hyperlinks to
resources and tools that can help you self-educate. But if I included them here, it
would have resulted in a clunky reading experience (and also a frustrating one
because some websites will change or delete their links in the future).

That’s why I’ve compiled all the websites mentioned in Habit Stacking on my
blog: http://www.developgoodhabits.com/habitstackingnotes

If you’d like to learn more about a specific tool or resource, then I recommend
checking out this page and bookmarking it for future reference.

Join the DGH Community

Looking to build your goal-specific habits? If so, then check out the Develop
Good Habits (DGH) community: http://www.HabitsGroup.com

This is an excellent group full of like-minded individuals who focus on getting
results with their lives. Here you can discover simple strategies for building
powerful habits, find accountability partners, and ask questions about your
struggles. If you want to “level up” the results from this book, then this is the
place to be.

Just go to http://www.HabitsGroup.com to join the DGH Community.

PART I: INTRODUCTION

The Power of Small Actions

Imagine what life would be like if you began each day with small actions that
created a chain reaction of positive benefits throughout your life.

You eat a healthy breakfast, have a great conversation with your loved ones, and
then begin your workday focusing on the important tasks. Then, throughout the
day, you complete other habits that positively impact your top goals. I guarantee
you’d feel more fulfilled, get more accomplished, and have a better direction for
your career.

All of this can be possible when you focus on small actions that relate to your
important goals.

These habits don’t require much effort. In fact, most only take five minutes or
less to complete. But they have a powerful compounding effect if you repeat
them often enough. This can include making a healthy drink, writing a loving
message to a loved one, or identifying three important tasks to work on first
thing in the morning. Do any of these repeatedly and you’ll notice a vast
improvement in your health, relationships, and work productivity.

Think of what your life would be like if your entire day was filled with these
small actions. Wouldn’t your life improve without a whole lot of effort? I bet it
would!

A Five-Minute Exercise to Transform Your Relationships

It’s easy to disregard the power of small actions. You might think that a simple
task can’t make a difference in your life. If you feel this way, then I challenge
you to complete a simple exercise that, coincidentally, only requires five minutes
of your time.

Right now, there is someone in your life who you love with all your heart. This

could be a spouse, romantic partner, parent, child, or close friend. He or she
means the world to you, but maybe you haven’t said that lately. Right now (or
sometime today), I want you to tell this person that you love them.

The method for doing this is up to you. It could be on the phone, in person, or
through a short note. Heck, you could even send a text message if you’re shy
about how this message will be received. Simply tell this person, in a few
sentences, how much he or she means to you.

I’m serious here.

Stop reading this book right now and talk to that special someone in your
life!

I’ll wait for you …

…

…

…

…

…

Okay, you’re back!

So, what was it like to express your feelings to someone you love? I imagine it
felt pretty awesome!

How long did it take to complete this simple exercise? A few minutes or so? Or
was it maybe longer because the conversation started flowing?

Now, think about what life would be like if this were a daily habit. You could
repeat this action for every important person in your life, sending them
thoughtful messages full of warmth and love.

The method you choose for expressing these feelings is irrelevant. It could be a
phone call, handwritten message, Post-it note, text message, or eCard if this

person lives far away. The only important thing is to do it!

Consider how this would positively impact your relationships. The people you
care for would start their days hearing loving messages. You would start your
day knowing that you’ve brightened the day of someone important.

All of this is possible when you add small actions to your day.

Small Actions Create Success

We’ve all heard that story of the overnight success. This is the story of the
musician who records a double-platinum debut album, or the startup CEO who
sells his company for a billion dollars, or the average Joe who hits the
multimillion-dollar lottery jackpot. Our society loves stories about ordinary
people who achieve amazing results with seemingly very little effort.

Unfortunately, the story of the overnight success is nothing more than a myth.
For every person who strikes it rich, there are thousands of folks who languish in
obscurity.

The cause of all this is the belief that success is an event. That you can
transition from “zero to hero” without a lot of effort. That you can start as a
nobody, get discovered by the right person who notices your unique talent, and
suddenly skyrocket up the ranks of the rich and famous.

Unfortunately, this story of the overnight success rarely happens in real life.

If you took the time to talk to any successful person, she would tell you that
success is always a process. It’s a daily slog where most of your time is spent
doing the same thing over and over. Rinse and repeat. Day in and day out. A few
wins along the way, and then a few setbacks. Eventually, by working hard, and
often for many, many years, you’ll become successful.

That’s the reality of success. It’s not luck or an event—just a lot of hard work
and daily action.

Or, to borrow a famous quote that’s commonly attributed to Thomas Jefferson:
“I’m a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more luck I have.”

The people who succeed in the game of life understand the important power of
small actions. They flourish by doing two critical things well:

•
Identifying the most important activities (or habits) related to

their goals.

•
Repeating these activities every day.

Simply put, when you know the important tasks related to your goal and do them
continuously, you’ll surpass the folks who spend their time making excuses
about why they’re not successful.

To quote Jeff Olson, from his book The Slight Edge: “The truth is, what you do
matters. What you do today matters. What you do every day matters. Successful
people … do things that seem to make no difference at all in the act of doing
them, and they do them over and over and over until the compound effect kicks
in.”

That compound effect that Olson talks about can be achieved by introducing
small actions into your life.

The Importance of Small Actions

The little things will have a positive or negative impact on every area of your
life. Just think back to the example from before. I talked about how the
consistency of sending a nice message to your loved ones will vastly improve
your interpersonal relationships.

Now, imagine what would happen if you sent a message of love just to your
spouse.

Every. Single. Day.

I guarantee the quality of your relationship would skyrocket.

In contrast, imagine the opposite of this scenario. Each day you ignore, mock,
and belittle your spouse. Do this once or twice and it’ll be somewhat damaging
to your relationship. But I guarantee that if this were your daily routine, you
would eventually win a one-way ticket to divorce city.

One article that I recently read supports this idea. The author talked about why
it’s important to “sweat the small stuff.” In fact, you should look for those small
bids for emotional connection by giving attention, interest, affection, and support
to the important people in your life. Really, all the people in your life need are
the small gestures that show you care.

Now, the interesting thing about small actions is how surprisingly easy they are
to complete. Usually they only take a few minutes to do, yet they are often
pushed aside because they don’t seem immediately important—like that nine
o’clock presentation for your job.

Even worse: a small action is often overlooked due to its level of ease.

You can convince yourself that you’ll “get around” to it. The task doesn’t
require much effort, so you never feel the need to schedule it into your day.
Unfortunately, what usually happens is you end the day without doing it. This is
what I call the “I’ll remember to do it” paradox.

The “I’ll Remember To Do It” Paradox

How many times have you told yourself that you’ll remember to complete a task,
only to realize hours later that you never got around to it?

It might be a quick errand, a simple task, or even a habit that only requires a few
minutes of your time (like taking a vitamin or flossing your teeth).

Some actions seem so easy to complete that you don’t feel it’s important to
create a reminder to do them. They’re too small to fail. But let me ask you this:
how many times have you followed through on one of these simple tasks? I bet
not very often.

That’s the paradox when it comes to these small habits. They’re super easy to
do, but they get overlooked because there isn’t an immediate negative
consequence for not completing them.

While each small action doesn’t require much effort, you still need a framework
that will guarantee that you do it 100% of the time.

Specifically, each action requires a reminder to complete it. That said, if you