What Nobody Tells You About Habit Hacking

Not too long ago, I found myself in a frustrating and difficult cycle. This was before I made mistakes, learnt lessons, and stumbled on the secrets of habit hacking. I tried to create new routines, and learn new habits. I wanted to become who I wanted to be as soon as possible.

I had pictured the future I wanted. I saw it all already, except that I wasn't living in it yet. I wanted to keep the dream alive.

Yeah, sure, I knew what I wanted to be. I also knew what I had to do to step into my dream future. All the routines I should keep, all the habits I should learn, unlearn, and relearn, were in my hands. I had to get to work. I had to start my habit hacking.

I began to mix. I mixed ingredients that could only have caused a disaster. I mixed routines that were not meant to be. I had high expectations, and I wanted to rush it. I infused so many new habits into my routine, and I struggled to keep up. It was an endless cycle of frustration.

I found myself struggling to keep up with impossible routines. Imagine: A 1-hour workout routine for someone who barely did workouts, 1-hour prayer for someone who barely prayed for 15 minutes, or even a 5000-word challenge for someone who struggled with 1000 words. One word to put it is - Frustration.

There's motivation everywhere to do this and that. Maybe my last article charged you up. You're so charged up, and so you begin to mix these things on impulse. It's great, but it will only become a disaster If you don't learn the secrets of habit hacking.

The truth is that you could do habit hacking the right or wrong way. I did it the wrong way, and I made mistakes, and I want you to learn from them.

Mistake 1: I had high expectations

I expected so much from myself. I wanted to turn into a superhero overnight. I wanted to achieve the highest feat in the shortest possible time. It felt nice on paper, it felt achievable in my mind. However in reality, it was so difficult. I struggled so much, and I couldn't keep up.

How to not make this mistake

Yes, have a vision, have an expectation. However, don't be caught in the web of unrealistic expectations. You can have a big picture, but make sure you break it down to sizable and achievable bits. When you do this; reaching smaller sized milestones, you're encouraged to move on and keep going, until you hit the mark. 

Realistic expectations that are broken down means you're on the path of doing habit hacking the right way.

Mistake 2: Too many habits at a time

I infused too many habits in my routines. The reality was that I was changing my routine too suddenly and significantly. I wanted to do too many things at the same time. At the end, I felt incompetent, and I thought I wasn't disciplined enough. 

Indeed, Self-discipline demands going against the norm of yourself. It was however not the problem really. I was trying to defy the laws of life, particularly the Law of Balance.

"My Law of Balance states that: at each given time, the body and soul are in harmony, except a significant external force interferes, and disrupts the balance."

Like that woman in the picture, she's alright, balanced. If a piece of paper lands on any of the things keeping the balance, there would most likely be no effect. If a huge stone fell on it, she would be disoriented, confused, and she'd loose her balance. She could end up like this man.

As humans, we live by this law, and I am no exception. I could not find balance by mixing strange habits together. I was doing habit hacking the wrong way.

What I learnt from the experience

I learnt that by making significant changes, I disrupted the balance. To maintain the balance, I had to make little changes. I would still feel comfortable with these small changes; maybe a little uncomfortable, but still bearable. Inch by inch, I would come closer to the goal, without disrupting the balance. 

If you don't go by this principle, you may get frustrated, and it could hurt your self-esteem and confidence.

Mistake 3: I tried to rush it

"Speed doesn't take you to the finish line, moving forward does." - Glory Ipadeola

Like I mentioned before, I wanted to be a superhero overnight. I wanted to get to the goal as fast as possible. I was doing too much at a time, hoping that I'd get to the goal faster, but that wasn't the case. I was just moving fast, yet making no progress. I ran so fast that I got tired of running.

The Lesson

I needed to go slow. Slow and Steady is really the way to go when it comes to Habit Hacking. Rushing the process is guaranteed failure, but when you reduce your speed, you're on the path to success.

Putting it all together

In summary, in becoming who you want to be, you need to have realistic expectations. Break your expectations down, and take them one after the other, because Slow and Steady wins the race. If you try to rush it, you may just understand why Speed kills.

That you're moving fast doesn't mean you're making progress. You could just be fast on the same spot, making no progress. You need to take Baby Steps to hack habits effectively.

Before I go

In my next article, I will be breaking down 7 secrets of habit hacking. All of these 7 secrets build on the mistakes and lessons I shared with you, just more in-depth. I promise you, it's going to be mind blowing. But I need you to digest this one first. Baby steps, right?

You can read my previous article on Habit Hacking to understand what Habit Hacking is really about, and why it is so important.

Please, help me to share this with anyone that you believe would need to hear these rare secrets of habit hacking, and not make the mistakes I made. I also want to see your experiences in the comments section.

Till the next one!