The most important forces that determine the quality of your life are the habits you adopt and the way they compound. For example, going to the gym once, no matter how hard you work out, will have little effect on your body, but going regularly, even for just fifteen minutes a day, will dramatically improve your health and fitness. 

When you have healthy habits that support your goals and values, leveling up your life becomes nearly automatic. Just like driving a car, at first, the task is hard and requires effort, but after a while, it becomes automatic. That is because focus takes a lot of energy. Our brains don’t like to waste energy on repetitive tasks. Instead, they want to put those tasks on autopilot. We call this neural autopilot a habit. Habits can either support or sabotage your goals.

The trick to adopting healthy habits is the same as learning a new skill in a video game, like Super Mario Bros:

1. Trigger: Goomba shows up on the screen.

2. Action: Jump on the Goomba.

3. Reward: Points, plus a smooshed Goomba.

4. Repeat: Throw more Goombas on the screen. 

To use this skill in real life, first, choose a habit you’d like to form; then, follow this habit-forming sequence:

1. Create a consistent trigger, like setting an alarm at a specific time.

2. Perform the action you chose, like filling out your journal page in the morning.

3. Reward the behavior, like checking off a habit box and seeing the chain of marks grow.

4. Repeat this sequence every day. It’ll take time (about a month of consistent practice), but eventually, you’ll have a new habit. Consistency is key. 

Every Daily Page includes a Habit Section. Pick three habits that will support the life you want to live and write them down on this page. (The shields next to the habit are called Focus Blocks which we’ll get into during Step 3.)

If your goal is to lose thirty pounds, pick a habit like doing a ten-minute workout before you leave the house, or starting each day with a light, high-protein meal. Each day you complete the habit, put a checkmark in the box for that day. Your brain will see the chain of checkmarks as a reward you can reinforce over time. The goal is to make it as easy as possible to check that box so you can build on your success.

To make things easy, choose a habit that’s easy to do every day. 

For example, if your goal is to floss daily, your trigger point could be brushing your teeth, and your first habit could be to floss one tooth. 

That may sound silly, but this is a trick game designers have been using for decades. Teach something small (like jumping on a Goomba); then, after a player has mastered that skill, give them the next step (like double-jumping on multiple Goombas in a row for a bigger reward).

Choosing something small removes resistance and makes it easier to perform. You can floss more than one tooth if you want, but all you need is one to give yourself the psychological reward of checking the box and seeing consistent progress. If you aren’t sure which habits to pick, here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Mental: Meditate, Journal

• Physical: Work Out, Stretch, Swim

• Learning: Read, Practice a New Skill, Listen to Inspirational Audio

Mountains of research back up the importance of habits like Meditation, Exercise, and Daily Learning. The habit of using this journal is also a great place to start!  Making these a part of your life will make you happier, healthier, and more productive.Start small and check off the box each time you complete a habit. Once the pattern is ingrained, you can work toward something more ambitious.

Over time, you can build what I call a Habit Stack, where the end of one habit becomes the trigger for the next one. For example, brushing your teeth triggers flossing your teeth, which then triggers putting on workout clothes, which triggers going for a run, etc. We recommend using the note section at the end of the Journal to document your Habit Stack so you can see the chain of habits build over the weeks and months you continue to grow.

In this way, you will build a foundation for more and more powerful habits.