{"id":94,"date":"2022-02-11T13:46:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T13:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/protheme\/authorthemes\/?p=473"},"modified":"2022-12-18T12:05:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T12:05:04","slug":"30-one-sentence-stories-from-people-who-have-built-better-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/30-one-sentence-stories-from-people-who-have-built-better-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"30 One-Sentence Stories From People Who Have Built Better Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this article, I’d like to share 30 \u201cone-sentence stories\u201d about building better habits. (They are not all exactly<\/em> one sentence, but they are very short.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of these stories are mine. They were sent to me by readers of Atomic Habits<\/a>. My hope is that these examples will illustrate how real people are putting the book into practice. They will show you what people are actually doing to build good habits and break bad ones. And hopefully, they will spark some ideas for how you can do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have divided the stories into categories that roughly correspond to different sections or ideas in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identity-based habits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the central ideas in the book is the concept of building \u201cidentity-based habits\u201d<\/a>, which essentially recommends focusing on the type of person you wish to become rather than the outcome you wish to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reader named Roland used the idea to improve his eating habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI stopped eating unhealthy food via identity change,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI tried many times in the past, but it became easy \u2014 natural \u2014 only after I had made the conscious decision that I want to be someone who eats healthy. Instead of aiming for I want to stop eating bad food<\/em>, I tried changing the mindset to I am someone that eats healthy and lives a healthy life<\/em>. It changes how you approach things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another reader named Robert employed this idea to help him quit smoking. He wrote, \u201cI recently stopped smoking and the difference between I don’t smoke<\/em> and I can’t smoke<\/em> is a powerful trainer of my brain. The positive message of I don’t smoke<\/em> is that I have not \u201cgiven up\u201d anything. I am not sacrificing a pleasure. I am investing in my future happiness and wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most strategies in the book, the concept of identity-based habits can be combined with other habit building tactics. For instance, one reader used an external reward of $10 to reinforce the desired identity. \u201cI told myself, I am no longer a drinker<\/em>. Then, after each day of non-drinking, I gave myself $10 to buy something nice rather than poison (like clothes and household items). Today, I no longer need the allowance and I’m six years sober.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 2 of Atomic Habits<\/a> covers these strategies in much greater detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing the Cues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another way you can change a habit is by identifying and altering the cues that prompt your behavior. This is precisely what many readers have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One woman named Lisa cultivated a reading habit by increasing her exposure to books. \u201cI’ve read more books by continually having 20-30 books on hold at the library,\u201d she said. \u201cIt saves time on browsing for books. I always have new things to read with a three-week deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heather used a similar strategy to reinforce the simple habit of drinking more water. \u201cI use color and placement for visual reminding and motivation. I poured water in a bright aqua water bottle \u2013 my favorite color \u2013 and placed it on my nightstand so I couldn\u2019t miss it when I woke up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other readers have done the opposite. They reduced<\/em> exposure to negative<\/em> cues. One man named Max managed to eliminate his e-cigarette habit. \u201cI quit e-cigarettes with a combination of determination and also quitting coffee at the same time, which was a trigger for me as I’d smoke and drink coffee together in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, I’d like to share 30 \u201cone-sentence stories\u201d about building better habits. (They are not all exactly one sentence, but they are very short.) None of these stories are mine. They were sent to me by readers of Atomic Habits. My hope is that these examples will illustrate how real people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[39,40,41,42,43,44],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-30-one-sentence","tag-built-better-habits","tag-from-people","tag-have","tag-stories","tag-who"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95,"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/95"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.rswpthemes.com\/writers-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}