Entrepreneur attended BetterUp’s Uplift Summit San Francisco on April 11, where famed author and public speaker, James Clear, best known for his New York Times The best-selling book “Atomic Habits” talks about the key to building habits that last.
His book, which teaches people the importance of building better habits on a scalable level and finding success with these newly adopted behaviors, has sold more than 15 million copies. However, she knows that when people want to make huge changes, it can feel completely overwhelming.
“We’re so focused on optimization that we don’t give ourselves permission to show up, even if it’s just a small thing.”
But Clear said there’s a technique that only takes two minutes of your time.
Related: How to Build Atomic Habits
By using the “two-minute rule,” you can start implementing habits into your daily life, no matter how far-fetched (or great) the new habits may be. The strategy can be applied to any habit you’re trying to build, she says, both professionally and personally.
What is the two minute rule?
The two minute rule is when you take on the new habit or task you want to accomplish and no matter how big it seems, break it down into a short task that can be done in two minutes or less.
“Take whatever habit you’re trying to create and scale it to something that takes two minutes or less,” Clear explained. “So ‘reading 30 books a year’ becomes ‘reading a page’ or ‘doing yoga four days a week’ becomes ‘getting out your yoga mat.’”
Clear says critics have raised issues with this strategy because they are consciously aware that they are trying to trick their brains, which makes it harder to implement. But Clear says to take a step back and just start: the hardest step is usually the first one.
“This is a deeper truth about habits that people often overlook, and that a habit must be established before it can be improved,” he said. “It has a standard in your life before you can expand it, optimize it and turn it into something more.”
Clear likened this to going to the gym and knowing that the first step in creating a habit might be simply putting on your workout clothes and walking out the front door, not starting with a 5-mile run or an intense exercise class.
“At a certain point, planning becomes a form of procrastination.”
“And I don’t know why we do it. But a lot of the time we get all or nothing about our habits,” he said. “We’re so focused on finding the best workout program, the perfect sales strategy, the ideal diet plan—we’re so focused on optimization that we don’t give ourselves permission to show up, even if it’s just a little thing.”
Sometimes deciding to start instead of planning is the change you need, he said.
“The two-minute rule pushes back perfectionism, fear and this tendency to plan or research too much,” he said. “Planning and preparation can be helpful. But if you’re planning and research and preparation supersede the actions you should be taking, it’s now kind of outlived its usefulness and becomes a crutch – at some point planning becomes a form of procrastination.”