The Mindset Mentor - The Habits to Build Your Life

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the MWF Motivation Podcast, one of the top-rated motivational podcasts in the world. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I come out with a short, to-the-point, no-BS podcast designed to transform you from who you are today into who you want to be. There's no fluff here, just life-changing content. My name is Rob Dial, and the podcast starts now. Welcome to today's episode. If you have not yet done so, hit that freaking subscribe button already so that you never

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Starting point is 00:01:10 breaking down my top three favorite books from this as well. So go to mwfmotivation.com slash booklist and get it there. All right, so today we're gonna be talking about how to create the right habits and get rid of all of the bad habits that you currently have. And before we dive into this episode, if you like what I put out, I put out videos every single week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button so that you never miss another episode of this. And if you have any questions

Starting point is 00:01:41 as I'm diving into it, go ahead and type it down below. I look at every single comment. I like to respond to people whenever I can as well. So when we're talking about how to create habits, first off, we have to talk about why habits exist in the first place. Why do habits exist in our brains? And the reason why we have 47% of the things that we do, according to psychology today, 47% of what we do is on autopilot, which means 47% of the stuff that we do is habitual. It's habits. I'm sure you've driven home before and you get home from a

Starting point is 00:02:13 familiar place and you're like, how in the hell did I just get home? Right? And you think to yourself, what just happened? I didn't even really think about driving. Somehow I got here though. really think about driving. Somehow I got here though. Well, your brain is the most energy consuming organ in your body. So what your body does is it creates habits because when you think about something, it consumes a lot of energy. It consumes even more energy to use and really think about something. So what your brain and your body decide to do is to create habits, to create an autopilot so that something can become habitual and you don't really have to think about it anymore. Your body can just do it. And at that point in time, your brain really isn't even in control

Starting point is 00:02:54 as much. Your body is actually in control. And there's a thing called myelin to go a little bit, a little bit geeky for you. Myelin builds up on the outside of your neurotransmitters. The more that you do something in myelin is kind kind of like if you look at something that's plugged into a wall, it's rubber. But on the inside of that is a copper wire that sends the electronic signal from whatever it is, the wall to, say, a lamp, for instance. That's exactly how myelin works. Myelin is like the rubber that's on the outside of the thing that you're plugging into the wall. The neurotransmitter is like on the inside, the actual piece of copper that's on the inside that's sending the electronic signal from one place to another. The more that you do something over and over, the more myelin that builds up on that neurotransmitter. And what

Starting point is 00:03:40 happens is it makes it very easy. We call this muscle memory It becomes very easy for you to do something because you've done it so many times It's just it's simple. You don't even have to think about it If you've ever played guitar if someone's you know going through this and listening And you're thinking to yourself of if you've ever played guitar or if you play basketball or if you You know play piano or do anything sometimes you can get to the point where you don't even have to think anymore. Your body just kind of goes through the motions. That's autopilot. And 47% of the things that we do every single day are autopilot, which is scary if you really think about it, because it makes you think, well, man, I really should start paying attention to what my autopilot is because am I doing the things I want to when I'm on autopilot, or do I happen to be getting into

Starting point is 00:04:25 the habits that I don't want? And so you have to realize the reason why they exist is so that your brain can go on autopilot and not consume more energy. But then you have to ask yourself, are these the habits that I want? And if they're not, what do I need to change them to? So if you're wanting to create a new habit and to actually change a habit, it takes anywhere between 21 to 100 days to create a new habit. Anywhere between 21 to 100 days to create a new habit. On average, it's about 66. If you're trying to create a new habit, make it as easy as possible on yourself to create this new habit. Lots of people, the reason why they don't follow through on their New Year's resolutions is because they throw themselves 10 New Year's resolutions

Starting point is 00:05:08 and it's too much for them to think of. Do not ever try to completely change your life. Change it one thing at a time. So what I would do if I were you is if you're trying to create habits, is ask yourself, what is the number one habit that I could create that would completely change my life right now?

Starting point is 00:05:24 What's the number one habit? Not number one, two, and three. What is number one? What is the most important one that I can create that can completely change my life? And you want to make it as easy as possible on yourself to create that habit. So for instance, there's a great book called The Power of Habit. And the writer of that talks about making it as easy as possible whenever you're trying to do something. So for instance, he was trying to floss his teeth, which is very hard habit for people to get. And so he said, I'm going to make it as easy as possible. Instead of going and creating the habit of flossing my teeth, I'm going to create the habit of flossing one tooth every single night. Just one tooth, not the entire mouth, just one

Starting point is 00:06:03 tooth. And what happens was because that barrier to entry was so low that he would Just one tooth, not the entire mouth, just one tooth. And what happens was because that, that barrier to entry was so low that he would floss one tooth and then go, well, I'm already doing this. I might as well do the rest of them. Right. The barrier, and he had already started. And so he thought to himself, well, I also want to start meditating. How can I make myself meditate? And so he was like, you know, originally it was like, I want to meditate for 10 minutes or 15 minutes or 20 minutes. And then he said, you know what? I'm going to make myself meditate for one minute per day. And that's all I have to do. And he would sit down for one minute quietly and he's already there. And he would go, you know what? This is so easy. I'm already here. I might as

Starting point is 00:06:37 well do five minutes. I might as well do 10 minutes. And he made the barrier to entry so easy and so low that it was almost impossible not to do it. It's almost crazy not to just floss one tooth or to sit down for 60 seconds quietly, right? Make it easy on yourself to do this. And what you want to think of is what he calls a keystone habit. A keystone habit is a habit that affects all other areas of your life or many other areas of your life. So for instance, a keystone habit would be you do this one habit and it affects other areas of your life. An example of that would be working out. Working out is a keystone habit, right? Just going to the gym is a keystone habit.

Starting point is 00:07:14 Even if you still drink and party and eat like crap, just start working out because what happens is you start working out, you get in this routine, you start working out, you work out, you work out. And then about a month later you go, why do I still drink so much alcohol? Maybe I should stop drinking alcohol, right? Why do I still eat hamburgers? Maybe I should stop eating hamburgers. Why do I still not drink water? Maybe I should drink more water. And what happens is because of the fact that you're working out and you've created that routine, it starts to affect all of the other areas of your life as well. Another example of a keystone habit is just waking up early. Not even waking up early and having a morning routine, just getting your body physically out of bed earlier, 30 minutes, an hour, whatever it is. And don't even have to have a plan. You

Starting point is 00:07:55 just get up and then decide to figure it out. And what happens is your habit, your body getting up physically makes you go, well, I'm already awake. I might as well read. I'm already awake. I might as well make breakfast. I might as well journal. I might as well go for a walk with the dog. I might as well do some exercise, do some yoga, do some stretching, right? So waking up is a keystone habit because it affects other areas of your life and you start

Starting point is 00:08:19 doing other things. So if you're trying to create a new habit, when I say what's the number one habit that could really change a lot of things in your life, ask yourself, what is a keystone habit? A habit that by itself would affect other areas of my life and it would start making me better. And you want to make it as easy as possible, right? So if waking up early, for instance, for you is the keystone habit, don't put your phone next to your bed. Make sure that when your alarm goes off, you have to get out of the bed. I always put my alarm clock, my, I have a phone, you know, my alarm clock and my phone I use. My phone is never in the same room as me when I

Starting point is 00:08:56 sleep. It's always in a different room. I make it easy because I have to get up and get out of the bed physically, walk to it. And I'm like, well, I'm already in the bathroom. I might as well wash my face, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and by the time I'm done with that quick five-minute routine, I'm like, all right, I'm awake. I'm not very awake, but I'm at least awake. And you wanna be able to make these keystone habits

Starting point is 00:09:18 as simple as possible and give yourself, it takes 21 to 100 days, so give yourself 66 days. Give yourself a hundred days to just do this one habit. So if you really want to make sure that this habit is stuck a hundred days, if it's between a hundred, 21 and a hundred days, let's just go for a hundred days. Just one habit, the next 100 days. What is the biggest one that would affect your life and implement it into your life? And then what you say is, how can I make it as easy as possible for me to have this? Maybe eating healthy is the keystone habit that you want to start, right? And so what would make that easier? Maybe if you meal prep the entire week on a Sunday, that would make it easier for you. So you

Starting point is 00:09:58 don't even have to think the rest of the week, right? What would make it easy? So you figure out number one, what that keystone habit is. And then number two, you ask yourself, how can I make this as easy as possible? And then only focus on that one habit for the next 100 days. And it is that simple. That is all you have to focus on. So that is how you create habits. That is how you get them into your life. And that is how you have at least one habit change all other areas of life as well. So that is all I have for you today. That is the key to creating habits. If you liked this episode, please do me a favor, share it with someone that you know and love. And I'm going to leave you the same way, leave you every single episode, make it your mission, make someone else's day better. I appreciate you. And I hope that you

Starting point is 00:10:41 have an amazing day. Well, that's it for today's podcast. If you want the show notes for this episode, they can be found at MWF motivation.com. Also, if you liked this episode, please spread the love and share it with a friend because it's our mission to help as many people as we can. And to keep in touch, you can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Both handles are at MWF motivation with no spaces. Now you know what time it is. So go out and make your dreams a reality. Outro Music

The Mindset Mentor - The Habits to Build Your Life

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