James Clear

Or if I can't follow through on the perfect lean startup business framework, then like why bother starting a company?

The two-minute rule kind of helps you get over that tendency of perfectionism and just start to master the art of showing up, find a small way to establish the habit, make it part of your new normal, and then you can gain a little foothold and start to scale up and expand from there. There's that great quote from Ed Latimore where he says, the heaviest weight at the gym is the front door.

The two-minute rule kind of helps you get over that tendency of perfectionism and just start to master the art of showing up, find a small way to establish the habit, make it part of your new normal, and then you can gain a little foothold and start to scale up and expand from there. There's that great quote from Ed Latimore where he says, the heaviest weight at the gym is the front door.

That's true for a lot of things in life. The hardest part is getting started. So let's master that and make it part of your lifestyle. And then once you're the kind of person who's showing up consistently, we have all kinds of options for how we can improve and optimize and so on.

That's true for a lot of things in life. The hardest part is getting started. So let's master that and make it part of your lifestyle. And then once you're the kind of person who's showing up consistently, we have all kinds of options for how we can improve and optimize and so on.

It's also surprising how few people actually have two minutes in their day where they stop and do nothing except breathe. That alone would deliver more value than you might expect. And there are a whole host of other behaviors that go along with this. You think meditating for two minutes sounds very small, but if you start to back out of it, you realize you got to pick a space.

It's also surprising how few people actually have two minutes in their day where they stop and do nothing except breathe. That alone would deliver more value than you might expect. And there are a whole host of other behaviors that go along with this. You think meditating for two minutes sounds very small, but if you start to back out of it, you realize you got to pick a space.

Where is it going to happen? What time of day is it going to occur? Is this something that you're going to do before work or after work? Do you do it on your lunch break? Try to do it with somebody. So you have a little bit of social accountability or is this just like a private thing that you're going to do in the corner? Do you need a pillow to sit on or are you fine to sit on the floor?

Where is it going to happen? What time of day is it going to occur? Is this something that you're going to do before work or after work? Do you do it on your lunch break? Try to do it with somebody. So you have a little bit of social accountability or is this just like a private thing that you're going to do in the corner? Do you need a pillow to sit on or are you fine to sit on the floor?

Like what's your flexibility like? Are you going to get interrupted by your kids? If you do this at 7 a.m., it might be nice to get it done in the morning, but is that when you're getting them ready for school and getting them dressed? A lot of little questions like that that people don't think about.

Like what's your flexibility like? Are you going to get interrupted by your kids? If you do this at 7 a.m., it might be nice to get it done in the morning, but is that when you're getting them ready for school and getting them dressed? A lot of little questions like that that people don't think about.

And so finding a very small version of the habit allows you to get all of that other stuff kind of handled, figure out the logistics of it, and just to do it for a minute or two.

And so finding a very small version of the habit allows you to get all of that other stuff kind of handled, figure out the logistics of it, and just to do it for a minute or two.

And then once you get all that stuff handled and you don't have to decide anymore, you have a little bit more mental capacity and energy to actually focus into, okay, let me scale this up a bit and do it maybe in the way that I was hoping I would.

And then once you get all that stuff handled and you don't have to decide anymore, you have a little bit more mental capacity and energy to actually focus into, okay, let me scale this up a bit and do it maybe in the way that I was hoping I would.

Yeah, so this is the final piece. It's really about just making a habit that's pleasurable enough that you wanna return to it, giving you some reason, some emotional signal that, hey, this is worth it. And there are a bunch of different ways you can do this. Some of them are short-term, some of them are long-term. The short-term stuff is mostly about reinforcement.

Yeah, so this is the final piece. It's really about just making a habit that's pleasurable enough that you wanna return to it, giving you some reason, some emotional signal that, hey, this is worth it. And there are a bunch of different ways you can do this. Some of them are short-term, some of them are long-term. The short-term stuff is mostly about reinforcement.

So classic examples are things like, oh, you can reward yourself with a bubble bath or with ice cream or buying something that you wanted or whatever. I think the key with those short term reinforcements is you want to make sure that the reinforcement also aligns with the long term identity that you're trying to build.

So classic examples are things like, oh, you can reward yourself with a bubble bath or with ice cream or buying something that you wanted or whatever. I think the key with those short term reinforcements is you want to make sure that the reinforcement also aligns with the long term identity that you're trying to build.

You go to the gym and you do a workout and then you eat a bowl of ice cream. It's like, okay, you're casting votes for two different identities. Or let's say that you're trying to get your finances in order. And so you're like, okay, I want to budget consistently and save money for retirement.