The Power of Habit Stacking

I explained the concept of compound interest to an eleven-year-old recently.  He grasped the concept of marginal gains easily. 

He just didn’t believe it could be that simple to turn birthday money into more birthday money with a simple daily habit.  

A lesson from British Cycling

If you read my posts regularly, you’ll know I’m a habits geek who loves cycling. For a habits geek who loves cycling there is no case study more thrilling than the recent history of British Cycling.  

At the 2008 Olympics, British Cycling astonished the world by winning 60% of the available gold medals.  Its success was due in large part to the commitment of its Performance Director, Dave Brailsford, to implementing a strategy of incremental improvements.

By focusing on 1% improvements in every aspect of riding a bike, the aggregation of marginal gains transformed British Cycling and led directly to phenomenal improvements in team and individual performance.

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement

I’ve recently tested a habits technique to help me repair my injured shoulder.  It’s easy to adopt and one you can apply to your practice development strategy.  It’s called “habit stacking” and I learnt it from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.

I’m supposed to do three shoulder exercises every day.  Painful and time-consuming, I find reasons to avoid them. However I do make a cup of tea every morning, without any fuss.  

Habit stacking is the idea of adding a new habit to an existing one. After I [CURRENT HABIT] I will [NEW HABIT]. I’ve tested it recently and it’s pretty easy to maintain.

After I boil the kettle (current habit) I will do my shoulder exercises (new habit).

How to embed habit stacking into your practice strategy

If you’d like to connect with more clients this year, try stacking a current habit onto one which will increase your engagement with your ideal clients.  For example:

After I pour my first cup of coffee at my desk in the morning, I will spend five minutes engaging with the content my ideal clients share on LinkedIn.

This habit stack could create many hours of client development time, almost imperceptibly and without interrupting your client work. 

Would you like regular access to support to help you grow your practice?

Jurilogical members receive new resources that help them raise their profile, connect with clients, and grow their practice every month.

To join us and receive these exclusive resources, subscribe at Jurilogical.com

By Heidi Smith
Creator of Jurilogical.com