Two books I’ve read recently that were impactful where “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Clear reminds us that “goals don’t determine success; systems determine success. We don’t rise to our goals but fall to our systems.” Duke University did a study on habits just a few years ago and discovered a full 40% of our everyday is not a result of conscious choices but daily habits.
Daniel, in the Old Testament, had systems in place to help him be the man God wanted him to be. It no doubt started out as a small habit but created a lifestyle that was pleasing to God. You can find that habit in Daniel 3:3-10. Daniel rose to a level of leadership in Babylon second to none except the king. But the little habit that got him there was praying three times a day.
What we can learn for Daniel’s story is we should never underestimate that God can start something big through one small habit. Over my life of 53 years, I developed some bad habits and some better ones. When my wife and I married 30 years ago, we committed to being fully consumed with Jesus. So, we built some habits that we still live by today. We meet with God’s family every Sunday and other times throughout the week. Even on vacation, we find a local church and go worship with them. We are also daily Bible readers. Every day, we dive into God’s Word to discover how the Spirit will lead us. Equally, we pray to our Heavenly Father every single day. We made a decision to tithe to the local church every week so we give back to God a portion of the material blessings that he gives us.
Duhigg calls that foundational habit a keystone habit. That’s a habit that propels you into other, life transforming habits. So you have to ask yourself, “Who do you want to become?” Once you’ve answered that question, you add a habit on to it the keystone habit you’ve developed. Based upon who you want to become, what one habit do you need to start this week to get there?”
We all have systems. You’re either being intentional about your system or you use one by default. Duhigg reminds us there is always a trigger that kickstarts a habit. So if you want to be different, you need to change your habits and in doing so, make the trigger obvious and easy.
An example for obvious would be that you want to be more physically fit so you decide to walk at least three times a week. The trigger? You place your running shoes by the front door so you see them when you get home from work. That’s making it obvious.
An example of making it easy would be that you want to read through the Bible so you commit to reading one verse a day. They even have apps for you to download that will send you a verse of the day. After 28 days, you will be in habit mode of reading your Bible and you’ll be wanting to add more than just one verse a day.
Remember, successful people do consistently what everyone else does occasionally. The folks you know who are deep spiritually, didn’t get there by accident. The people you see who are debt-free, didn’t magically just get that way. The coworker who is physically fit, didn’t just wake up that way. All of them had a habit and plan that got them there.
So, who do you want to be? Once you have decided that, what one habit will you begin to get you there? Blessings on the journey.