Make it attractive, because, if the habit is unattractive, we most likely won't have enough willpower to do it over and over. Therefore, you should come up with some ways to make the habit attractive even if it’s something hard like going to the gym or studying for long hours.
James Clear repeats this line very often in his book, Atomic Habits: Your habits are how you embody your identity. When you make your bed each day, you embody the identity of an organised person. When you write each day, you embody the identity of a creative person. When you train each day, you embody the identity of an athletic person. The more attractive you make your habit, the more likely it is to draw you or enable you to enforce that habit.
Some activities are not so interesting, or they are so mundane that we miss out on the deeper impact they have on our subconscious self. Like making a bed being representative of an organised person, I could never make the connection till I started practicing this for myself. The simple 2 minutes task of making the bed, gave me time to plan my next task, and very naturally my organising skills became natural and second nature. I receive compliments from friends and family regarding my organizing skills. Be it for a meeting, or to go to the airport or even plan a big event like a wedding, I am able to mentally plan and action activities in detail and well within time. A few years ago, if anyone would have connected this to my rigmarole habit of making my bed, I would have laughed out loud. But it worked!
Humans are prone to fall for exaggerated versions of reality. Some small practices I adopted to make things attractive for me are my socks are by my bed, and as I pick them up and come down my shoes are at the foot of the stairs, waiting to be stepped into, effortlessly! I successfully lost 2kilos and exercise automatically became attractive for me. Keep it attractive and patiently wait for a positive result, then the habit becomes natural and effortless.
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