“We are what we repeatedly do.
Will Durant
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Habits are like assholes, everyone has them, but a lot of them are shitty. Please excuse the crudeness. I have had so many conversations about dreams, goals and motivations that I don’t have time to mince words. All of these conversations start with, “I really want to {insert goal here}, but first I need to {insert excuse here}.” That is where I bite my tongue and let them finish, because anyone who starts with this statement is not in a mental state to accept that they are the reason why they will never achieve their goals.
I’m a wildly distracted individual with an attention span of a goldfish. Struggling in a world of distractions, I navigate the completion of my daily tasks by building systems of habits that will constantly work towards my goals. Even as a child I’ve created a habit of building a system of constant iteration and improvement. This is what has fueled my success in everything that I’ve pursued and how you too can craft your habits to achieve your goals.
Understand the Essentials of Habits
Look, you can have the grandest dreams and the loftiest goals, but if you can’t put those ideas into some kind of real, daily structure, they’re going to stay just that—dreams. Habits are your daily reps, your practice sessions. They’re what gives structure to your life when motivation burns out, and trust me, it will. You don’t need massive willpower; what you need are daily steps. Don’t kid yourself—every time you say “I’ll start tomorrow,” you’re giving yourself permission to stay stuck. Habits are what bring you forward when that “someday” never shows up.
Think about Leonardo da Vinci. Here’s a guy known for painting the “Mona Lisa” and designing flying machines centuries before airplanes existed. But what most people don’t know is that he kept dozens of notebooks packed with ideas, sketches, and thoughts. He didn’t just rely on inspiration; he had a system—a daily ritual of recording his thoughts, making observations, and setting his mind up for creativity. Da Vinci’s habits of journaling and experimenting were like his creative fuel, always pushing him forward.
The essentials of a habit are like a three-piece survival kit: a cue, a routine, and a reward. This structure keeps you moving and makes sure you’re reinforcing what you actually want to do, not just what you wish you could do. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective. Think of it as setting up little reminders, triggers that start your day the right way—turning on that “autopilot” that gets the job done while your brain is still making coffee.
The Path to Building Habits is Never Straight
No one told you this would be pretty, and if they did, they’re selling something. The journey to forming habits isn’t one of those neat, straight lines; it’s messy, and it’s frustrating. Here’s the reality: you’re going to hit walls, you’re going to mess up, and you’re going to feel like a failure. The problem is, people want instant results; they crave that big overnight transformation. That’s fantasy. Real change comes from the 1% rule—tiny, incremental steps that compound over time.
You’re going to have days where you won’t want to get out of bed, and those are the days your habits will save you. It’s like a badly blazed trail in the woods—you stumble a bit, you get scraped up, but you’re moving forward, even if it doesn’t feel like it. And on the days where you barely make an inch of progress, remember, that’s still progress. Habits, when built right, will carry you forward even when you’re in the thick of the “shitty day” swamp.
Small Bites to Survive the Journey
When people talk about “small changes,” most of the time, they don’t realize just how powerful that can be. Change isn’t about leaping from zero to hero; it’s about building the foundation, one brick at a time. You’re not going to run a marathon after your first jog, but you will get better, step by step. What makes small changes so powerful is that they’re manageable. They don’t overwhelm your brain, and that consistency—showing up even in tiny ways—is what builds the long-term results.
“The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”
Creighton Abrams
Imagine each small win as a bite-sized chunk of progress. You’re not gorging yourself on change; you’re feeding on it in small, sustainable doses. That’s what sticks. And as it sticks, you start to see that compounding effect—small efforts accumulating until, one day, you realize you’re miles away from where you started. That’s the power of small bites.
The Series
This post is one of a series on habit building. Each week I will delve deeper and deeper into the topic. This series is not here to give you a quick boost of motivation; it’s here to be your go-to, your manual. Each post isn’t just text; it’s a prompt for action, a nudge to start and keep going. And if you’re not ready to take those actions, come back when you are. Real growth comes from doing the work, tracking your steps, and learning from each failure along the way.
Grab a notebook or post below to follow along, because every post will prompt for notes, reflections, and check-ins. The goal is to get you writing things down, keeping track of what worked, and what didn’t, because here’s the truth—if you don’t keep some kind of record, you’ll lose track of progress. Writing down your wins, even your small ones, makes a difference. It’s a commitment to yourself, to keep coming back and pushing forward.
Here is the notebook I am using today: https://amzn.to/4f0f3Ek