Starting a business is one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences you can have, but how do I begin you may be asking? There are many different ways to go about starting your own business. It is critically important to consider your business idea, how much time you can devote to running it, and the amount of money you want to put into your business, before you make any firm decisions. Starting your own business requires careful financial, strategic, and legal planning. We have compiled some easy steps that will help you start your business in the right way and direction.
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Begin With The Correct Mindset
We often hear about overnight successes because they make great headlines in the news. It’s rarely that simple, and the reporters don’t report on the long years of dreaming, or the building and positioning before a big public launch. For this reason, remember to focus on your business journey and don’t measure your success against someone else’s. Their timing and other factors were likely different from yours.
Consistency is a Big Key
New business owners tend to feed off their motivation initially but get frustrated when that motivation wanes. This is why it’s essential to create habits and follow routines that power you through when motivation goes away.
Take the Next Step
Some business owners dive in headfirst without looking and just make things up as they go along. Then, there are business owners that stay stuck in analysis paralysis and never start. Perhaps you’re a mixture of the two—and that’s right where you need to be. The best way to accomplish any business or personal goal is to write out every possible step it takes to achieve the goal. Then, order those steps by what needs to happen first. Some steps may take minutes, while others take a long time. The point is to always take the next step.
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Further Examine Your Business Idea
Most business advisors tell you to monetize what you love, but they miss two other very important elements: it needs to be profitable and something you are good at. For example, you may love dancing, but how viable is your business idea if you’re not a great dancer or performer?
Or, maybe you love making napkin holders and want to open a kitchen shop in your small town that already has three. You know it won’t be easy to corner the market when you’re creating the same product as other nearby stores.
If you don’t have a solid idea of what your business will entail, ask yourself the following questions:
What do you love to do?What is it that you dislike doing?Can you think of an idea that would make those life easier?
These questions can lead you to a solid idea for your business. If you already have an idea, these questions might help you expand on it. Once you have your firm idea, measure it against whether you are good at it and if it is a profitable idea.
Your business idea doesn’t need to be the next Molly Maid or Dog Walkers Inc. These are service businesses. Instead, you can take an existing physical product and improve upon it.
Know Your Market and Your Competitors
Most entrepreneurs spend more time on their products than they do getting to know the competition. If you ever apply for outside funding, the potential lender or partner wants to know: what sets you (or your business idea) apart? If market analysis indicates your product or service is saturated in your area, see if you can think of a different approach. Take housekeeping, for example—rather than general cleaning services, you might specialize in homes with pets, or focus on garage clean-ups.
Do Your Primary Research
The first stage of any competition study is primary research, which entails obtaining data directly from potential customers rather than basing your conclusions on past data. You can use questionnaires, surveys and interviews to learn what consumers want.
Do Your Secondary Research
Utilize existing sources of information, such as census data, to gather information when you do secondary research. The current data may be studied, compiled and analyzed in various ways that are appropriate for your needs, but it may not be as detailed as primary research.
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Create The Business Plan For Your Business
Your business plan is a dynamic document that is a roadmap for establishing your new business. This plan in document form makes it simple for potential investors, financial institutions, and company management to understand and get a solid snapshot of your business’s premise. Even if you intend to self-finance, a business plan can help you bring out your idea and identify potential problems. A well-rounded business plan should include the following sections:
Executive summary. The executive summary should be the first item in the business plan. The trick here is that it should be written last. It describes the proposed new business and highlights the goals of the company and the methods you will use to achieve them.
Company description. Your company description covers what problems your product or service solves in the marketplace, and why your business or idea is better compared to similar others. For example, maybe your background is in aviation maintenance, and you’ve used that background to create a new type of flight control actuator—you have the proper credentials to make the most dependable.Market analysis. This section of the business plan analyzes how well a company is positioned towards its competitors. The market analysis should include target market, segmentation analysis, market size, growth rate, trends and a competitive environment assessment.Organization and structure. Write about the type of business organization you expect and the management strategies you propose. It should also include who the staff management team will be and their qualifications? Will your business be a single-member LLC, or a corporation?Mission and goals. This section should contain a quickly explained mission statement and detail what the business wishes to accomplish along with the steps to accomplish them. These goals should be specific, realistic, action-orientated, measurable, and time-bound.Products or services. This section describes your business’s operating procedure. It includes what products you’ll offer to consumers at the beginning of the business, how they compare to existing competitors, the costs of your products, who will take responsiblity for creating the product, how you’ll source materials and how much they cost to make.Background summary. This portion of the business plan is the most time-consuming to assemble. You need to compile and summarize any data. This includes but is not limited to articles and research studies on trends that could positively and negatively affect your business or industry.Marketing plan. The marketing plan identifies the characteristics of your product or service. It summarizes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business, and analyzes competitors. It also exhibits a discussion of how you will promote your business, how much money will be spent on the marketing aspect, and how long the campaign will run.Financial plan. The financial plan is the core of the business plan. Without money the business will not be able to move forward. Include a proposed budget in your financial plan along with projected financial statements, called an income statement, a balance sheet, and a statement of cash flows. See an accountant for more detailed information on each of these if you feel appropriate. Usually, five years of projected financial statements are acceptable. This section is also where you should include your request for funding, if you are looking for outside funding.
Decide On Your Business Structure
When structuring your business, it’s essential to consider how each structure impacts the amount of taxes you owe, daily operations and whether your personal assets are at risk.
- LLC: A limited liability company (LLC) limits your personal liability for business debts. LLCs can be owned by one or more people or companies and must include a registered agent. These owners are referred to as members.
- LLP: A limited liability partnership is similar to an LLC but is typically used for licensed business professionals like an attorney or accountant. These arrangements require a partnership agreement.
- Sole Proprietorship: If you start a solo business, you might consider a sole proprietorship. The company and the owner, for legal and tax purposes, are considered the same. The business owner assumes liability for the business. So, if the business fails, the owner is personally and financially responsible for all business debts.
- Corporation: A corporation limits your personal liability for business debts just like an LLC does. A corporation can be taxed as a C corporation or an S corporation. S corporation status offers pass-through taxation to small corporations that meet certain IRS requirements. Larger companies and start-ups hoping to attract venture capital are usually taxed as C corporations.
Before you decide on a business structure, discuss your situation with a small business accountant, as each business type has different tax treatments that could affect your bottom line.
Register Your Business
There are several legal issues to address when starting a business after choosing the business structure. The following is a good checklist of items to consider when establishing your business:
- Choose your business name and register your business. Make it memorable but not too difficult. Choose the same domain name, if available, to establish your internet presence. A business name cannot be the same as another registered company in your state, nor can it infringe on another trademark or service mark that is already registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
- File business formation paperwork with your state. You’ll officially create a corporation, LLC or other business entity by filing forms with your state’s business agency–usually the secretary of state. As part of this process, you’ll need to choose a registered agent to accept legal documents on behalf of your business. You’ll also pay a filing fee. The state will send you a certificate that you can use to apply for licenses, a tax ID number and business bank accounts.
- Apply for an Employer Identification Number. All businesses other than sole proprietorships with no employees must have a federal employer identification number. Make your application to the Internal Revenue Service. You’ll typically receive your number in just minutes.
- Apply for the licenses and permits you need. Legal requirements are determined by your industry and jurisdiction. Most businesses need a mixture of local, state and federal licenses to operate. Check with your local government office for licensing information tailored to your area.
- Open a business bank account. Keep your business and personal finances separate. Here’s how to choose a business checking account—and why separate business accounts are essential.
- Apply for business insurance. You should consider general liability insurance for your business in case of property damage, lawsuits or other problems. Product liability insurance and commercial property insurance may be beneficial, too. In most states, workers’ compensation insurance is required by law if you have employees.
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Market Your Business
This probably doesn’t need to be said but a web presence is essential, even if you’re a brick-and-mortar business. You can make a standard informational website or an e-commerce site where you sell products online.
After getting a website or e-commerce store, focus on search engine optimazation (SEO). By doing good SEO it will ensure when a potential customer searches for specific keywords regarding your products, the search engine can point them to your business’s website. SEO is a long-term strategy, so don’t expect a ton of traffic from search engines at the startup—even if you’re using the proper keywords.
Provide quality digital content in the form of articles, and even tutorials, on your site that makes it easy for customers to find the correct answers to their questions. Content marketing ideas include videos, customer testimonials, blog posts and product demonstrations. Content creation and marketing should be one of the most critical tasks on your daily to-do list. This is used in conjunction with posting on social media.
You don’t necessarily need to be on every social media platform available. However, you should have a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter because they offer e-commerce features that allow you to sell directly from your social media accounts.
Are you wondering whether it would be better to register your business as a DBA vs LLC? Read
Should I Register My Business As a DBA or LLC, and learn which would be better for you!
The Art Of Resumes And Interviewing
We have seen too many people blow their interviews on small things that could have been prevented if only they had known a couple little tweaks. “It’s one of the worst feelings in the world when you do all this work, go to the interview, and get turned down for a career position”, says Jason Wilkins of Danville Virginia.
This doesn’t need to be you. Here we are going to provide lots of inexpensive resources that will propel your future onto a solid foundation and get you started on a career that has high earning potential.
Too many people are afraid of writing a great resume and going through the high pressure process of completing the job interview process.
The truth is there are a ton of books out there on how to write resumes. Many of the books are quite good. But studying an entire book about writing resumes is like learning auto mechanics just to drive across town. Why bother?
Instead, why not find a great resume that’s already written and use the best parts for yourself?
It’s easy, cheap and saves you time better spent searching for that next great job.
As an added bonus I’m including three Special Reports you’re sure to find useful. Special Report #1 contains resources listing over 100,000 jobs available right now. Special Report #2 discloses what the hottest jobs will be from now until 2028. And Special Report #3 reveals the very best locations for finding great jobs and some of the best companies to work for.
“Steal This Resume” is the perfect resource for job-seekers. Each of the over 500 resumes and cover letters is precision-crafted using persuasive phrasing and powerful language aimed at finding great employment. The hard work has already been done. All you need to do is search out the perfect phrase or paragraph or description and make it yours.
You’ll like the powerful wording and strong descriptions in this guide. Instead of spending valuable time and effort hunting for just the right word or phrase you can simply use what’s already worked for someone else. Each resume and cover letter is effectively engineered to present the job-seeker in the very best light for the very best job. That job-seeker could be you.
Cracking the Code to a Successful Interview: 15 Insider Secrets from a Top-Level Recruiter
Written from the perspective of the recruiter, this offers solid and valuable insight with specific steps to prepare. Since reading this book, I’m moving further along the interview process and faster than before. I’m confident implementing these tips and prepping based on the exercises will lead to a job very soon.
This book is so head and shoulders beyond anything I have ever read on this subject. Gave me a plan, huge edge, and exact way to approach things. Also taught me I had much more to offer than I thought I did. Put me at ease and got me the job finally
I interviewed many people during the course of a thirty-nine and a half years career. The secret is to listen. We were taught “you have two ears and one mouth”, so listen twice as much as you speak. This book certainly could provide a course of action to be successful in interviews. I can recommend this book entitled: Cracking the Code to a Successful Interview: 15 Insider Secrets from a Top-Level Recruiter.
The Art of the Interview: Lessons from a Master of the Craft
THE ULTIMATE INSIDER’S LOOK AT THE FINE ART OF INTERVIEWING
Highly respected in journalist circles and hailed as “the Interviewer’s Interviewer,” Lawrence Grobel is the author of well-received biographies of Truman Capote, Marlon Brando, James Michener, and the Huston family, with bylines from Rolling Stone and Playboy to the New York Times.
He has spent his thirty-year career getting tough subjects to truly open up and talk. Now, in The Art of the Interview, he offers step-by-step instruction on all aspects of nailing an effective interview and provides an inside look on how to prepare yourself for the interview and get hired.
In The Art of the Interview, Grobel reveals the most memorable stories from his career, along with examples of the most candid moments from his long list of famous interviewees, from Oscar-winning actors and Nobel laureates to Pulitzer Prizewinning writers and sports figures. Taking us step by step through the interview process, from research and question writing to final editing, The Art of the Interview is a treat for anyone looking to get hired.
This is a great start and if you want to dive deeper or consult with someone about the resume and job interviewing process be sure to contact us via our contact page. Good luck and happy earnings.
How To Prevent Anxiety
Almost everyone has felt some level of high anxiety in the financial world. Although some stress and anxiety is necessary for personal growth in life, too much can lead to chronic illness if not managed correctly.
Unwinding Anxiety is a book, and systematic method, to control and even eliminate destructive levels of anxiety. An instant New York Times bestseller, unwinding Anxiety is a step-by-step plan that is clinically proven.
This book isn’t transcripts of some guru who has watched YouTube videos trying to sell you a course on coaching that’s supposed to cure your anxiety.
The clinical research documented in this book has proven where anxiety originates, and how to break the pattern many have been living with their entire lives.
In Unwinding Anxiety, you will learn to break the cycle of worry and fear that drives anxiety and addictive habits.
We are living through one of the most anxious periods of our generation.
This book has broken my anxiety loop for good. I’ve struggled with anxiety all my life, and through hundreds of books, courses, and countless hours of audio and video training that mildly worked for a short time, this book has provided the long search for the permanent solution.
Martin Hamilton
So many are facing super stressful issues at work and personal ones with our families and marriages. This can spiral into fighting the urge to reach for the wine or even stronger bottle of alcohol every night.
We are feeling overwhelmed and sometimes control. In this timely book, Judson Brewer explains how to meet anxiety at its source using brain-based techniques and small simple techniques accessible to anyone.
We think of anxiety as everything from worry to full-blown panic attacks. Anxiety is also what drives the addictive behaviors and bad habits we use as a default method to manage stress eating, procrastination, and meaninglessly scrolling social media for hours each day.
Through this book, you will learn anxiety lives in a part of the brain that resists rational thought.
We get stuck in anxiety habit loops that we can’t think our way out of. The guru’s teach to use willpower to overcome anxiety, which is wrong. That method is even teaching the use of the wrong part of the brain to break the anxiety loop.
Dr. Brewer teaches us how to use the correct part of our brains for alleviating anxiety and how to map it out discovering our triggers.
He also shows us how to defuse these triggers with the simple yet powerful practice of curiosity.
Dr. Brewer goes further showing how to train our brains using mindfulness and other practices that his lab has proven can work.
Unwinding Anxiety includes over 20 years of research and hands-on work with thousands of patients, including coaches, Olympic athletes, and leaders in government and business.
Dr. Brewer has created a clear, solution-oriented program anyone can use to feel better – no matter how anxious they feel.
Tiny House Laws and Regulations
Building Codes for Tiny Houses.
Traditional residential homes are subject to building code requirements, and in many areas of the country, it is the same policy to have tiny home building codes. More on that later, including contact information. For now, let’s explore these questions to help you feel ok.
A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for structures. These include buildings and nonbuilding structures. Buildings must meet precise codes to get planning permission, which comes mainly from a local council.
Have confidence to know that they require building codes to protect public health and safety. Also to protect the general welfare of the population as it relates to the construction and occupancy of all buildings and structures, especially livable spaces. The building code becomes law. These laws start at the federal level and tailored to the particular jurisdiction when formally enacted by the appropriate governmental or private authority.
Remove all worry. Click here and get the full guide to build a container home. You could start your own building business.
Is it legal to build a tiny house in your backyard?
The quick answer is yes; you can put a tiny house in your backyard in most cases. However, you’ll have to check with your local government to ensure you fully understand all rules and regulations before doing so. There are different varieties of tiny houses, each with their own group of advantages and disadvantages.
- What amenities should a tiny house usually have?
- At least one full bathroom with a ceiling height of at least 6 feet, 4 inches.
- Ceiling height in common areas of at least 6 feet, 8 inches.
- A ladder or stairs, if the tiny house has a loft.
- At least one window that is suitable for egress as an emergency exit.
It’s super important to comply with International Residential Code (IRC) building code requirements and/or the International Building Code (IBC) requirements.
Keep in mind that these codes are not universal requirements. Make sure you do additional location-specific research.
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What is the smallest house allowed by code?
It varies by state and local jurisdiction. The IRC codes require that we must build all homes in some states on a minimum of *320 square feet. The minimum square footage for a house is in some states is *120 square feet, and at least one room must be habitable. Habitable rooms meet other regulations, such as needing a closet and at least one window, not just for aesthetics but for egress safety. Minimum size requirements are typically determined by the building code. Each state or municipality can adopt aspects of the International Residential Code and apply them to their specific needs. *Square footage is always subject to change, so ensure you check with your local ordinance for current tiny house laws and regulations in the area you plan to place a tiny house/home.
What are zoning regulations for tiny homes?
In most areas, zoning regulations govern the use of land. For example, some parcels of land are zoned specifically for commercial or government and business use, and they zone others for residential homes. Before you can build a tiny house on a parcel of land or park a movable tiny home, you need to review zoning ordinances and ensure that you are meeting local laws with your structure. You can change zoning sometimes by contacting the local authoritative department with your request, but this process can take some time and persistence in most areas. Keep in mind that the federal law decides most zoning regulations.
What states are tiny house friendly?
It is possible to live in a tiny house in most states in the United States. There are differences in what states are best. It’s best to check with the local jurisdiction of the state you want to place a tiny home. See contact information below.
Do you need a permit for a tiny home?
The size of the house does not change the laws regarding the need permits. The answer is definitely yes. Permits are necessary for tiny houses because they are livable structures. Each state has different requirements, but permits are universal mostly. You will definitely need a building permit to construct a tiny house.
Can you put a tiny home on your property?
If you obey regulations and ordinances required by your city or state, you can build or place a tiny house on your property. When you want to have the tiny house as your primary residence is where the law is stringent. Remember the taxes must be collected on your tiny home and we must follow many safety rules for your protection. Keep in mind this is a good thing for neighbors and yourself.
In most states, they will require you to build your tiny house on a solid foundation on the land of your tiny home permanent residence. Laws include height, square footage, and utility requirements such as water, sewage and power. Check with your particular state’s laws for more details, beginning with the contacts below.
Are Tiny Homes Safe?
Newly adopted regulations address egress, minimum ceiling heights, loft, stairs and other safety issues surrounding tiny homes. Yes, tiny homes are safe when built to the local code.
Tiny House Laws & Regulations
State codes and regulations for tiny homes have significant variation. Researching and learning building codes, zoning regulations and other factors from state to state is one of the most important initial steps that you can take when preparing to transition into a tiny home once you find a suitable place to live.
This begins by exploring state laws and codes, but keep in mind that they define some regulations at the county level. While a review of state-specific laws is a significant starting point, you should follow up by contacting local agencies for more specific information. In addition, before delving into regulations, it may be helpful to decide if you want to live in an area permanently or keep your tiny home on wheels.
Remove all worry. Click here and get the full guide to build a container home. You could start your own building business.
Resources:
Checkout our full Tiny Homes Review: Small Manufactured Homes
International Residential Code (IRC)
International Building Code (IBC)
National Association of Home Builders
Contact the National Association of Home Builders via email: info@nahb.org
Phone: 1-800-368-5242
Mailing Address: 1201 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
Construction Codes and Standards Committee
Councils and Committees
Contact: Craig Drumheller via email: cdrumheller@nahb.org
Phone: (202) 266-8565
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What’s The Best Way For a Beginner To Earn An Income Online?
Before spending lots of money on tools and courses on how to make money online for beginners, read this article first.
It will save you lots of time and from unnecessary spending.
Start by creating content in the form of articles, also called posts. You can create them in a gDoc worksheet or even in a .txt file.
Write on anything on your mind. You may ask yourself questions naturally as you begin writing. These questions will force you to do research and as you further align with the premise of your article in your mind, you can add the answers to the questions in the content of your article.
Once you have a proofread article, go into Canva and make an image for free, that supports your content.
Now add your text and image in a WordPress.com website. It’s easy to create a site there, and it costs nothing except a little time to setup.
Eventually you will want to transfer your post to your own WordPress self hosted site, but don’t worry about that part yet.
Just worry about producing great content. Starting step by step without getting overwhelmed is the key. And lets be honest, most people can’t create good content. If they can it’s not on a consistent basis. I’m talking about at least two posts per week of questions people are searching in your niche topic.
So that’s your first test to see if building an online business is going to work for you.
If you find yourself posting at least twice per week on your free wordress.com (not the same as a self hosted wordpress.org site) then you should go ahead with your online business.
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Here is a bonus tip. Start a YouTube channel on the same topic as your blog. Some people can’t write on a consistent basis but making great videos are easy for them. By having both a free blog and free YouTube channel, you will find which works best for you. Better yet if you can manage to produce content on each platform at least twice per week you will succeed with creating an online business.
Another thing to consider is how you can use what you know about writing and creating online to help others. You can help individuals or businesses and they are willing to pay you for your tutoring and help. You may want to read this free download, The Freelancing eBook: 8 Steps To Freelancing Success for help.
Just get started. Everything will fall into place and you will ask the questions needed to move forward to make money online for beginners.
Have you taken our How To Make Money Online On A Slim Budget Quiz yet? If not click the link and see if you’re cut out for making money online.
Just like all content on Guiding Cents, this article is to help you find ways to increase your spending IQ by preventing getting taken for a ride using wise spending and investing habits.
Far too many people waste money on courses and software they don’t need in order to start an online business.
Take it slow, follow exactly what this simple advice suggests, and you will at least know if the time is right for you to begin with cultivating your vision of having a profitable online business.
If you enjoyed this content then don’t forget to join our Making Money Online Newsletter.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
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James starts Atomic Habits with an introduction and sharing personal strategies he implemented to recover from a serious accident in high school. That event forced him to improve the quality of his routine to get his life in order, coming to the conclusion that “we all deal with setbacks, but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you will end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible
Section I : The Fundamentals
Chapter 1: Here we learn the power of compounding effect: changes that seem small and unimportant at any given day will compound into remarkable results if we are willing to stick with them for months and years.
Chapter 2: Based on a 3-layer concentric circle behavior change model—divided into outcome change, process change, and identity change—James explains that we should pay attention to our inner identity by focusing on beliefs, assumptions, and values.
Chapter 3: In this chapter we are introduced to a 4-step framework, which is composed of cue, craving, response, and reward. James calls it ‘The 4 Laws of Behavior Change’. He then explains that we can think of each law as a lever that influences our behavior—when the levers are in the right positions, they create good habits effortless whereas when they are in the wrong position, it is nearly impossible. Through examples, he explains that “the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue.” Together they create a habit loop that, when repeated many times, habits become automatic.
Section II : Make It Obvious
Chapter 4: A primer on how cues play a crucial role in predicting habit formation without consciously thinking about the outcomes. Once our habits become so common, the cues associated with them become essentially invisible because they are deeply encoded. If we want to create better habits, a good idea is to be aware of the cues. James finishes up by sharing a strategy called ‘Habits Scorecard’—a simple exercise to become more aware of our behavior on a daily basis. We first write down a chronological list of our daily habits and, once we have a full list, we score each habit as an effective, ineffective, or neutral habit. Besides noticing what is actually going on, we can notice if certain behaviors help us become the type of person we wish to be.
Chapter 5: The cues that can trigger a habit come in a wide range of forms, and the 2 most common cues are time and location. When we make a specific plan for when and where we will perform a new habit, we are more likely to follow through. Stacking our habits by pairing a new habit with a current habit is a form to connect our behavior to our own advantage.
Chapter 6] This chapter shows how our environment plays a crucial role in defining habit behaviors. “Given that we are more dependent on vision than any other sense, it should come as no surprise that visual cues are the greatest catalyst of our behavior.” To build good habits, then, we should either make desirable cues obvious in our environment or build new habits in a new environment to avoid fighting against old ones.
Chapter 7: One of the most practical ways to break a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it. As James points out, “it is easier to avoid temptation than resist it.”
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Section III : Make It Attractive
Chapter 8: James explains how the modern food industry has created products that are more attractive and addictive to consumers, and by doing so he shows that the more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming. Every behavior that is highly habit-forming tends to be associated with higher levels of dopamine. It is the anticipation of a reward that motivates us to take action. “Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.”
Chapter 9: “We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.” That said, it is common to pick up habits and behaviors from our parents, peers, and colleagues.
Chapter 10: To avoid unnecessary and detrimental cravings, we should highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit by making it seem unattractive. “Habits are unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings.”
Section IV : Make It Easy
Chapter 11: “All habits follow a similar trajectory from effortful practice to automatic behavior, a process known as automaticity. Automaticity is the ability to perform a behavior without thinking about each step, which occurs when the nonconscious mind takes over.
Chapter 12: Since every action requires a certain amount of energy, we are motivated to do what is easy. By contrast, the more energy required, the less likely it is to occur. “You don’t actually want the habit itself. What you really want is the outcome the habit delivers. The greater the obstacle, the more friction there is between you and your desired end state.” That is why we should reduce the friction associated with our habits by creating a prosperous environment to make future actions easier.
Chapter 13: There are decisive moments that deliver an outsized impact every single day. As James puts, these decisive moments are a fork in the road, sending us in the direction of a productive path or an unproductive one. To avoid procrastination, the skill of ‘Showing Up’ says that we should start a new habit by taking baby steps, making it as easy as possible to take action. “A new habit should not feel like a challenge. The actions that follow can be challenging, but the first 2 minutes should be easy. What you want is a gateway habit that naturally leads you down a more productive path.” He calls it the ‘Two-Minute Rule’, meaning that new habits should take less than 2 minutes to do in the beginning. Once the habit is established we can improve and master the finer details.
Chapter 14: In order to keep bad habits away is to make them difficult in the first place. There are 2 interesting strategies to improve our future behavior. [1] Make good choices in advance before we can fall victim to temptation in the future. James gives a personal example by sharing that whenever he is looking to cut calories he will ask the waiter to split his meal and box half of it to go before the meal is served. If, however, he waits for the meal to be served and tries to eat just half, that would never happen. [2] Make onetime actions that can automate our future habits and deliver increasing returns over time such as buying a good water filter, unsubscribing from unwanted emails, moving to a friendlier neighborhood, buying a standing desk, or setting up automatic bill pay.
Section V : Make It Satisfying
Chapter 15: We should make sure to feel immediately satisfied after performing a new habit to increase the odds that the behavior will be repeated next time. “The human brain has evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.” For that, we can add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run.
Chapter 16: Here we learn how to measure our progress by tracking our habits. The immediate satisfaction it delivers—as mentioned earlier in Chapter 15—is one of the many benefits that standout. Besides that, James says, “when we get a signal that we are moving forward, we become more motivated to continue down that path.” The most basic format to track our habits is to get a calendar and mark an X each time we stick with our routine. One of the most important passages of the entire book is as follows: “If you miss one day, try to get back into it as quickly as possible. The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit. This is a distinguishing feature between winners and losers. Anyone can have a bad performance, a bad workout, or a bad day at work. But when successful people fail, they rebound quickly.”
Chapter 17: In order to prevent bad habits and/or eliminate unhealthy behaviors, James says that we could either add an instant cost to the action or make it painful. A habit contract is also another strategy to hold our accountability: “It is a verbal or written agreement in which you state your commitment to a particular habit and the punishment that will occur if you don’t follow through. Then you find one to two people to act as your accountability partners and sign off on the contract with you.”
Section VI : Advanced Techniques
Chapter 18: We learn how to distinguish habits when genes may or may not influence our performance especially for competitive activities. “One of the best ways to ensure your habits remain satisfying over the long-run is to pick behaviors that align with your personality and skills.” James proposes us to set some time apart to explore new activities in the beginning, before shifting our focus to exploit them thoroughly.
Chapter 19: When we find the sweet spot of our ability we tend to learn best and fastest. The ‘Goldilocks Rule’ states that “humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.”
Chapter 20: One downside of certain habits, James explains, is that we may stop paying attention to the little details and errors. To counterbalance that we should review and reflect on the process over time to remain conscious of our own performance. Using a simple chart to convey his message, we learn that “the process of mastery requires that you progressively layer improvements on top of one another, each habit building upon the last until a new level of performance has been reached and a higher range of skills has been internalized.”