Anchor Habits
Anchor habits are daily practices that help you navigate a steady, consistent path toward your goals, and guide you back when you find yourself off course.
Let’s begin with an unfortunate truth – Much of our life circumstance is due to things outside our direct control.
Things like:
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Where and to what family we were born into
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What decisions our political leaders make
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Whether it’s sunny and clear outside, or rainy and gray
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Whether we wanna order the fries or side salad
Wait, what?
It’s true. We actually have VERY LITTLE CONTROL over the initial WANTING part. And this is particularly true when it comes to consuming calories, even in excess, and especially of the hyperpalatable. Think french fries, golden, crispy, and with the right touch of salt. Well I certainly like fries at least, but feel free to insert whatever your own usually highly processed, salty-sweet-fatty-crunchy, can’t-resist foods are. Our biology encourages us to consume calorie dense foods when and where we find them, lest we lose access to food long term, enter a famine, and starve. And if you’re reading this on a smartphone or a laptop, we can assume that’s very unlikely to happen.
Every day we make upward of 35,000 choices. With so much for our brains to do, it makes sense that fatigue will set in. It’s not a matter of if, it’s when. So when we’re hungry, maybe a little agitated and/or tired, all of a sudden it seems much easier to skip the gym, find something on Netflix, and order in a pizza. Almost instinctive, right? And since we’re gonna skip that workout we may as well also leave the salad greens we purchased with good intention in the crisper drawer, until they resemble a muppet and we admit it’s time to toss ‘em. Mozzarella sticks to start!
So how do we actually do the things we intend to do? How do we avoid the same pitfalls we keep falling into? How do we start doing the things we know we should? Drinking more water, making it to the gym, eating our veggies, getting enough sleep, etc… How do we end up feeling good about the day’s choices when our head hits the pillow?
Accept and come to terms with our biology, our natural desire to take the path of least resistance, and make healthy choices the easier ones to make. Enter anchor habits – little choices that set you off in the right direction daily. Sort of like bumpers on a bowling lane, you set yourself up so you hit at least one pin. And sometimes, that single pin is all it takes to keep you in the game.
Anchor habits are practices you do over and over so that they become routine. They’re small actions, bare minimums in fact, but they move the needle a tiny bit. They set you off in a good direction. And here’s the key – You don’t wait for the inspiration to do them. Instead, you put systems in place and create some structure to help reinforce you at your own unique weak points. You help your future self out. There’ll be times you don’t want to do them. And from time to time there will be times when you don’t. No worries… you have discipline and routine, which always win out over hoping and willpower.
What are some examples of anchor habits?
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Set an alarm for consistent wake and sleep times.
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Notice that “wake” comes ahead of “sleep”. Though ideally you’d be consistent on both ends of the sleep cycle, waking up at the same time (within 30-60 minutes) each day is often the one you have more control over. This will help you develop a healthy circadian rhythm, which in turn positively affects appetite control, energy level, mood, and more. A disrupted circadian rhythm will negatively affect everything from our ability to concentrate, our energy levels, how much body fat we store, to our ability to make healthy choices in the face of temptation because decision fatigue sets in sooner.
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Set a regular daily waking alarm and turn off the ability to snooze. You’ll get up, I promise. Setting a night time “wind down” alarm can help too, especially if you’re experiencing the joy of parenthood and have less control over when you wake up. And if/when you have a late night, don’t sleep in. Allow yourself to feel more tired and ready for bed at a normal hour the next night.
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Starting your day with a glass of water.
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I enjoy my java and look forward to my daily grind-and-brew ritual, but I start hydrating early by drinking a glass of water as soon as I wake up (okay, after I brush my teeth).
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You start your day taking an easy action which affirms your belief that YOU are the type of person who makes healthy choices.
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Leave your favorite glass on the kitchen or bathroom counter where you’ll see it, fill it, and down it.
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A bonus squeeze of lemon and/or a small pinch of sea salt can not only add some flavor, but may also help better hydrate you.
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You can use this to a similar effect before every meal or alcoholic beverage.
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Move regularly.
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It’s great to have a regular strength training routine, but this is different. You can (and maybe should) schedule it, but it isn’t “exercise”. It’s regularly incorporating healthy movement into your life.
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Take a walk around the block (one of the benefits of adopting a dog is the need to do this!), spend a few minutes on a foam roller or stretching, or dust off that yoga mat and hit a few yoga poses. My minimum go-to is a few daily Sun Salutations. Maybe you’d prefer a challenging run or some push ups and swings with that kettlebell under the bed. Awesome.
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Set and keep the bar low. You want an easy to overcome barrier to begin. Make it harder NOT to do your thing. Have your stuff out where you’ll see it. Then when you don’t feel like getting going (which will happen), you just start. Take the first step. You can always do less. You can always quit. Unroll the mat, lace up your shoes, grab the kettlebell or open the front door and step outside, and see what happens.
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Does getting and staying healthy end there? Maybe not. Still, one of the cool things about using anchor habits is that as you get going, the habits you started with will require less and less effort. They’ll require less mental discipline, they’ll become more routine, like brushing your teeth in the morning. Your inner dialogue will shift from “I want to start doing XYZ” to “I am the type of person who does XYZ!”. Then, if you want, you can upgrade them to be just a tiny bit more impactful, or leave ‘em in cruise control and shift to new ones.
It’s worth mentioning once more how this isn’t about drumming up more willpower or finding more motivation. You don’t wait to feel like doing the thing. You place small actions first and trust them to create mood and momentum. You don’t have to (nor should you) take my word here. You’ll come to know it based on your own experience, the most important factor in belief systems. It’s just a little bit of work, but you have to do it. So be curious about yourself, and when that inner voice starts in with I don’t wanna… just for today, do the thing anyway and see what happens.
Until next time,
Chris
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Where is an area you want to create change and what’s a tiny anchor habit you could use to help your future self out? Leave a comment below!
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