Start every new habit with a 2 minute habit

You are what you repeatedly do. If you want to do things consistently, they have to be easy and manageable. The key to that for us has been the idea of the Two minute habit, which we learned about in Atomic Habits.

We have always struggled to build consistent habits. After implementing this idea into our life, we have managed to work on things that matter to us consistently for the first time. This blog is a direct result of our Two minute blog writing habit. We work on it every single day. Sometimes we work for 2 minutes, sometimes longer. But the main thing is that we’re consistently moving forward.

No matter if you've got all the time in the world or if you're a busy rocket scientist - everyone can find 2 minutes in a day. And as it turns out, that's more than enough to start a new habit. The main focus should be on consistency - doing those 2 minutes every day. Taking a vote every single day that you are an athletic person, just by doing that one push up or proving that you're a studious person by doing one flashcard a day.

Often the biggest barrier to doing work is getting started. It’s much more difficult to get yourself to start running than it is to keep running. The brain likes to resist difficult work so having systems that can trick it to get started is a powerful tool. Once you start, you give yourself the opportunity to get into a flow state where you don’t even notice the minutes passing as you work on the task at hand.

The two minute habit doesn't even have to take two minutes - it can take seconds. Here's an example:

You want to start exercising, specifically you'd like to do squats. Your two minute habit then is ONE squat. No, it won't even take you two minutes to do it but it's the exact habit behavior/routine that you want. Doing one squat is infinitely better than doing zero squats but it gets even better. By doing this consistently (every day) you will sometimes do even more squats. Maybe two? Maybe three? And imagine where this could get you in a year. As the squats get easier, you'll be more likely to do that extra one squat. Like we said, the two minute habit is all about momentum/flow, since once you do your one squat it's sometimes hard to stop doing more.

A two minute habit can help you break through the barrier of resistance we all feel when starting work on a difficult task. Doing this regularly helps build a belief in yourself and creates an identity of a person that can overcome resistance. Combine a Two minute habit with a habit tracker and you’ve given yourself a great chance of success. We really suggest giving it a try. Think what the beginning steps of your new habit are and give it a shot.