f you’ve been on the internet in the past three years, you’ve probably heard somebody tell you not to take on too much at once… That you should only focus on having one habit at a time or max 2-3.
And granted, I am one of those people who might have told you those things, but in this blog I’m going to give you a habit funnel activity that you can use to make an exception… If you are a person who really, really likes having a ton of different things to think about in terms of behaviors all at once.
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Hi, my name is Dr. Karin Nordin and I am not just spewing advice for my own life. I got a PhD focused on behavior change and mindset, and I’m here to bring you the real science behind self-help.
The Habit Funnel Concept
In this blog, I’m going to teach you a concept that I’ve used in our coaching program before called a habit funnel. Which is basically a way of segmenting your behaviors. So you do have a couple high priority ones that you’re focused on, but you also have a whole variety of options.
Step 1: Draw Your Funnel
This is going to be a very interactive blog! So take out a piece of paper, and draw a funnel on it. You can think about this as the same type of funnel you would use in your kitchen when you’re trying to put new salt into your existing salt shaker. But this time you’re going to divide it into three.
Now we’re going to take a break from this, and brainstorm 24 behaviors. Yes, I said 24…. 24 behaviors that you feel are beneficial to your life.
The Largest Menu of Choices
When you’re done, look at that list of 24 behaviors. You’re going to start thinking about these behaviors as your largest menu of choices… Kind of like you’ve just gone to the Cheesecake Factory and you have all of these options available.
Step 3: Narrow Down to 12 Behaviors
Now, take those four behaviors and I want you to narrow them down to 12 behaviors. Take 30 seconds and do that.
Sometimes Behaviors
These 12 behaviors are going to be your sometimes behaviors. These are behaviors that you want to be doing more often than not… But again, they don’t have to be done every single day. Whereas these ones you might shoot to do each of these behaviors at least once per week.
Step 4: Choose Your Core Four
From there, you’re going to go through the final step and you’re going to pick four of these 12 behaviors to put in this bottom part of the funnel.
For this, I want you to really think about the smallest behaviors… The behaviors that are the most flexible that can be done in any circumstances with relatively little effort. Or think about the behaviors that are going to create the largest return on investment that have the largest impact in your life.
How the Funnel Works
Now, here’s how this funnel works. If you are a person who has a little bit of a rebellious tendency… If you get bored with habits really easily or if you just rebel against restrictions in your life, what you’re going to do is focus on getting these four behaviors done. But when that boredom surfaces, when that resistance comes up, you’re going to know that you can always move further out.
Flexibility in Changing Circumstances
This works really great if you’re in a different circumstance… Meaning if you’re traveling, if chaos is happening in your life, or if something large changes… Going back to these 24 behaviors and having a whole list of things that you can choose from helps you to be very flexible in times of changing circumstances or stress, but it gives your brain something that you’ve already come up with. So that in those stressful times, you don’t have to generate a bunch of new habits that might actually help you in those moments.
Is This Technique for You?
So this my friend, is a habit funnel. Now, like I said… If you are the type of person who’s easily overwhelmed, and the thought of having 24 habits that you could even possibly think of is overwhelming. Or if you’re a person who’s going to make yourself think you have to do every single one of those 24 behaviors every single day… This is not for you.
This is more of a technique that’s a better fit for people who like to play. For people who like to vary up their techniques, behaviors, and what their life looks like every single day.
Conclusion and Additional Resources
If you like a lot of freedom and exploration, this might be a technique that you’re going to want to check out. And if you’re too overwhelmed to even think about a single habit right now… Check out this blog from our alliance Coach Jimena. She shares exactly how to deal with overwhelm and gives some pretty amazing techniques.
Last thing, if you’re having trouble coming up with habits that are going to propel you towards your future self… Check out our free resources linked below. Take a look, dig in, and let me know how it goes in the comments. I’ll see you next week.
