This phrase changed the way I think about habits. It comes from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits (I recommend his book!). He said this in a talk he gave (click here to watch).
The principle is this:
- For any habit, every rep you do is a vote for the person you want to be. The more votes you put in, the more likely you will win the election.
- To get your reps in, make it easy to start. Clear referenced David Allen, a productivity consultant, who defined the 2-minute rule: Any habit can be started in 2 minutes.
- Once you get through 2 minutes, it’s game on. Most of us know the phrase “getting over the hump.” It’s the challenging part about habit formation: getting started.
The finish line of a big goal makes us feel overwhelmed. This is why we should optimize the starting line, it feels easy. Just get started.