Learn how to make new habits stick—the easy way—with the “pairing technique.”
In this blog post I’ll share a real-life example from my own life about how I tried to use this technique to start a new habit…
Why it didn’t work…
And what I changed to make my new habit stick easily & effortlessly.
What Is The “Pairing Technique”?
This is where you “pair” a new habit with an old, established habit.
For example, if you want to start doing more cardio, you could “pair” that with your habit of watching TV.
Just put a cardio machine in your living room, and jump on that machine every time you start to watch TV. You’ll be taking advantage of your existing habit (watching TV) to start a new habit (doing cardio).
Make sense?
What I Tried To Do
My goal was to start taking these 2 supplements:
(Note: These are affiliate links.)
They come in a flake/powder form.
What I tried to do was to pair this new habit with an existing habit, which was taking pills. I already take supplements in a pill form every day, and it seemed like an easy thing to add these two supplements to that habit. (To pair them together.)
Why It Didn’t Work
Unfortunately, this didn’t work the way I expected.
Why not?
The problem was that I didn’t integrate the two habits well enough. I wasn’t able to take the new supplements as easily as the others; instead, I had to go into the kitchen, fill a new glass of water, add the two new supplements, mix it, and drink.
It was a lot more work than simply popping a few pills in my mouth. The two habits didn’t fit together.
What I Changed
Instead, I decided to pair my new supplements with another habit: drinking a protein shake.
This was a MUCH better habit to pair, because it was very similar to the new habit.
I was already going into the kitchen to get a glass of water, mix in the protein, and drink it.
It wasn’t much extra work at all to keep my new supplements next to the protein powder and dump in an extra tsp of each into my protein shake.
All of a sudden, I was taking my new supplements on a regular basis…a habit that continues to this day.
How Can You Use This?
Think of a few habits that you want to start in your life.
Now, think about what it would be like to DO that habit.
What else are you already doing in your life that is similar?
It could be something you do in a similar place, at a similar time, or with similar people.
Now think about the easiest way to pair those two habits together.
Trust me when I say it’s worth a few minutes of work. When done correctly, pairing is one of the fastest & easiest ways there is to start a healthy new habit!