Mastering habit building

James Clear is the master of habit building. This is his take on continuous improvement, and how making “slow and slight” changes regularly will add up over time.

He offers three steps:

1. Do more of what already works – rather than flipping to something new
2. Do less wrong – reduce errors or complexity
3. Measure backwards – make decisions based on what has already happened

For example, if, hypothetically, you have a fortnightly team newsletter, continuous improvement could look like:

• Keeping a consistent cadence and format, but offering different types of content from time to time
• If setting a theme for each issue is making it harder for contributors, reduce complexity by setting overall guiding principles instead
• Looking at which issues have been opened the most, or links most clicked, to understand what your audience is most hungry for