In this episode of The Art of Authenticity, Laura Coe talks with James Clear about systems over goals, and how to reach new heights of productivity without the stress.
About James Clear
James Clear writes about behavioral psychology, habit formation and performance improvement. He studies successful people across many disciplines, including entrepreneurs, artists and athletes, to uncover the habits and routines that make them the best at what they do.
The question so many people ask
“How do I implement, have the discipline, the motivation to change my life?”
James talks about goal setting, taking action and changing habits: practical things, like putting your gym shoes next to your bed so you can run in the morning, and the psychology behind why we set goals but can’t follow through. We think it’s just us; that we’re lazy or not motivated. If you want to improve this area of your life, this is the episode to listen to.
Show Notes
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James’s personal story — forced to overcome major hurdles, he learned to focus on small wins [3:05]
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On the importance of having a good team [6:50]
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How James displayed entrepreneurial behavior without realizing it at first when he was in graduate school [8:36]
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James’s early years as an entrepreneur involved incubating his skill sets [10:23]
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James’s turning point — starting http://jamesclear.com/ and feeling invested in writing about behavior change and high performance [11:15]
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How James views goals, setting goals, and how to think about that process first [14:20]
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Entrepreneurship, marriage, and children as the three great teachers in life — accepting that there is no finish line [15:05]
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Committing to systems over goals allows happiness now, instead of it always being postponed until the next goal is finally reached [18:20]
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Most experiments that you run in your business will not work because results are very contextual—you must keep experimenting and measure/track your results [19:06]
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Measure backward over a short time span (instead of measuring forward) to improve over time [20:55]
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Forget willpower, change your environment — i.e., priming your environment to make the good behaviors easier and the bad behaviors harder [26:35]
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Keystone habits have a cascade effect: changing one or two key behaviors influences a lot of other areas as well [28:33]
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To figure out your keystone habit(s), experiment but also ask yourself what goes right on the days when you’re at your best [30:40]
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How James got so interested in the importance of sleep — sleep-deprived people become blind to their own performance decline [33:00]
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Questioning the cultural belief that sleep must suffer because “a busy person is an important person” — why occasional laziness can be very healthy [35:59]
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What does it mean to have an authentic life? James’s yearly integrity report, where he admits faults to progress forward [38:04]
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James’s top practices for authenticity — his keystone habits of lifting weights (testing the body) and writing (testing the mind) [40:15]
Books Mentioned in this Episode
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Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit
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Mason Currey, Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration, and Get to Work
More About James
James’s first book will be out soon from Penguin Random House in the next year. Find all his books at http://jamesclear.com/books. Subscribe to his weekly newsletter at http://jamesclear.com/newsletter.
Frequently asked questions
Why does James Clear favour systems over goals?
Committing to systems allows happiness now, instead of always postponing it until the next goal is reached.
What is a keystone habit?
A habit with a cascade effect: changing one or two key behaviors influences many other areas.
Is willpower the answer?
James suggests changing your environment instead, making good behaviors easier and bad ones harder.