The Habit Stacker Rule consists of four steps to help you build successful habits. These rules make sure that you can remember and get the most out of the system. Our app is great and all, but the secret sauce is in combining the rules with the app. Each rule makes it easier to move one step closer to new habits. When done right, you can use habits to change your life.
Habit Stacker Rule #1 - Stack
Habit Stacking is the foundation of the system. If you don't Habit Stack, it will be challenging to get the momentum you need to complete your habits each day. Stacking Habits also makes it easier to build new habits.
Habit Stacking is when the cue for a habit is another habit. For example, some people drink coffee in the morning right after they wake up. The prompt for drinking coffee is their alarm clock. For other people, they only drink coffee after the cue of tiredness in the morning. The first example is a habit stack; the second follows the traditional habit loop.
Life with Habit Stacker Rule #1 - When you stack your habits, you can depend on getting them done. You don't need to wait for random external cues that may or may not come.
Life without Habit Stacker Rule #1 - Without stacking your habits, your habits depend on cues that are outside of your control. You could be depending on random cues to trigger you to take action. That is a losing strategy.
Habit Stacker Rule #2 - Start
The best way to start your habit stack is with the beginning of your day. The best cue for your habit stack is waking up, which is why morning routines are so useful. You develop the habit of waking up at the same time each day; then you go right into your habits.
Starting the day with a habit stack is powerful. It allows you to get a lot of your essential habits knocked out in the morning before your day gets going. It will enable you to build up momentum and confidence.
Life with Rule #2 - When you build your Habit Stack on your wake up time, you demand that you start the day with excellence. From the moment you open your eyes each day, momentum will be on your side.
Life without Rule #2 - Without rule number two, you will most likely choose a habit that you do not do every day. If one day you decide not to do it, you will not have the cue to start the rest of your habits.
Habit Stacker Rule #3 - Schedule
The key to starting your day with Habit Stacking is scheduling the first one -two hours of your day for this. If you do not plan the time, you will fill it with other things. By blocking the time you make sure that you have enough time to get through your habits.
Taking one or two hours may sound daunting, but it is one of the best moves you can make. Try it for a week straight, and your life will never be the same. You are scheduling the first hour of your day for getting habits done. Leave answering the demands of others for later in the day.
Life with Rule #3 - When you block the first part of your day, you make sure that there is time to get through your habit stack without rushing.
Life without Rule #3 - Without blocking time, your life is frantic, and your busy schedule will almost always win. When your busy schedule wins, your habits tend to lose.
Habit Stacker Rule #4 - Show Up
The essential part of all this is showing up for your habits. You can know your stack, wake up, schedule your first hour, and still not show up. You have to be present and get your habits done each day. You have the system, but this is the part where you have to put in the work.
How to Succeed When You Show Up
A. The Right Setting
It's essential that you control your environment. When someone appears to be disciplined, they are experts at managing the setting they live in. It's hard to show up for your habits if you make it challenging to succeed.
If you want to stop eating sugar, you should keep sugar out of your environment.
When the goal is to drink more water, you need to carry a water bottle with you.
People who want to eat healthier do meal prep on Sundays to avoid making poor choices.
These are many examples of controlling the setting. Being disciplined with your habits starts here. The goal is to make positive habits more accessible and habits you want to avoid harder to get to.
If you want to practice learning a new language, then put the app you use in an easy to access spot on your phone. If you're going to be on Instagram less, delete the app from your phone. There is a way to alter your environment for every single habit. When you get this right it makes it easier for habits to change your life.
B. Self Image
Change always starts inside. If you want to change your world, you have first to change how you see it. You will never make consistent habit changes until you change how you see yourself. Your self-image must be in alignment with any new habits.
If you see yourself as a slob, you will never be able to stick with your habit of staying organized. When you see yourself as being fat, you will never be able to stick with your workout habit.
You change how you see yourself with I AM statements that you read out loud. When your self-image begins to break, it becomes easier to follow through on your new habits.
C. Small Start
The last thing you want to do to help make this process successful is to start small. When you begin tracking a new habit, the tendency most people have is to start big. If you want to cut out sugar completely, start by just eating a bit less. If you're going to work out daily start with one push up.
By starting small, you make it easier to build momentum. Significant changes are hard, but anyone can do one push up a day. Once you stay consistent with that one push up, you can begin doing more. The goal is to prove your confidence with the little things. Starting small is the easiest way to increases your chances of sticking with a habit.
Life with Rule #4 - When you show up prepared for your habits, you make it easier to succeed. Anyone can start a habit for a week, but only people with Rule #4 create sticky habits.
Life without Rule #4 - When you don't have rule number four, you fall off of your habits within a month.
Spread The Rest Out
At this point, you have finished your scheduled time to start the day. You still have habits left to complete, though. What you want to do next is spread your habits throughout the rest of the day. By starting the day with a heavy dose of habits, you take the pressure off of your day. It's easy to know that you have a full day and only a few habits left to complete.
If you want, you can do another habit stack at lunch or in the evening when you have time. The easiest way to usually approach the this is to spread your habits out through the rest of your day.
If habits could improve with ease, everyone would have great habits. Using The Habit Stacker App will help to guide you through all this. You have everything you need, but when its time to get your habit done, it's on you. When you track your habits to change your life, you can measure your progress.