Tom Facchine – Why Reps Matter More Than Time – Atomic Habits

Tom Facchine
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AI: Summary ©

The speaker discusses the concept of "good" habits and how they can contribute to achieving new habits. They explain that action is the most important factor in establishing a new habit, and that repetitions and habit are the path to change. The speaker emphasizes the importance of practice and understanding the process of becoming a habit.

AI: Summary ©

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			We've crossed over to law number three, make
		
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			it easy.
		
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			That your habits and your new habits, you
		
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			want to make them as easy as possible.
		
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			So the first part of this section is
		
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			walk slowly, but never backwards.
		
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			Now he gives an example, and I think
		
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			it was a really powerful example, of a
		
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			professor of photography.
		
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			He had a photography class, and he divided
		
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			his class into two halves.
		
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			He had one group that was focusing on
		
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			quantity, and one group that was focusing on
		
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			quality.
		
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			Which group do you think submitted the better
		
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			photos at the end of the year?
		
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			It was the quantity group.
		
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			The group that took the most pictures became
		
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			the best at taking pictures.
		
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			And the group that only took a few
		
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			and just submitted one, their pictures were not
		
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			so good.
		
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			They weren't very good whatsoever.
		
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			Sometimes when we want to start a new
		
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			habit, we focus a lot on the plan.
		
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			And we plan, and we plan, and we
		
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			plan, and we never do anything.
		
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			Okay, imagine we're that part of that quality
		
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			group.
		
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			We're only going to shoot one photo and
		
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			submit that one photo.
		
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			We might think theoretically about where to shoot
		
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			the photo, and what the lighting should be,
		
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			and how to do this, and how to
		
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			do that, but we're not actually doing anything.
		
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			When we sit down to do it, our
		
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			execution is off because we're out of practice,
		
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			and we don't have enough practice.
		
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			Whereas the other group, right, they are the
		
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			doers.
		
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			They are the ones that are just doing
		
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			it, and by doing it, they are actually
		
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			getting better and better and better at it
		
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			as they are going along.
		
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			So his point is to plan less and
		
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			to start doing more.
		
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			As is well known, there's a phrase, perfect
		
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			is the enemy of good.
		
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			That if you wait, and wait, and wait
		
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			until things are perfect, usually you'll end up
		
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			not doing anything.
		
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			And if anybody writes here, then you definitely
		
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			know this is true.
		
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			Writing and meeting a deadline, you're like, well,
		
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			it's not perfect yet.
		
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			Well, I have to review this.
		
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			Well, I have to.
		
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			This sentence isn't quite right.
		
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			It's better for you, or as one of
		
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			my mentors, Imam John Starling down in New
		
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			Jersey said, be a happy C student.
		
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			Don't be the straight A student or the
		
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			A plus student.
		
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			Be a happy C student.
		
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			You'll actually end up being better because you'll
		
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			have more practice, and you'll be more productive,
		
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			and you'll get things out.
		
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			So the author distinguishes between motion and action
		
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			on one hand.
		
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			Motion is basically all of that pre-work.
		
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			You know, you're making your list, and you're
		
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			thinking about what to do, etc.
		
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			But you're not actually doing it.
		
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			Action is what produces results.
		
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			Action is what actually makes you better at
		
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			the thing that you want to be better
		
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			at.
		
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			Now, what's tricky about motion and why motion
		
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			is so appealing, all the lists, all the
		
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			journals, right?
		
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			All the, oh, today I'm going to start
		
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			journaling, or today I'm going to make my
		
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			list, or whatever, is that that's motion, and
		
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			motion can trick us into thinking that we're
		
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			making progress without actually risking anything because to
		
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			truly take action, to write the book, to
		
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			write the paper, to do the workout, that
		
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			actually has risk involved.
		
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			But to think about it, and to plan,
		
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			and to plan, and to think, that doesn't
		
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			have as much risk.
		
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			It's kind of safe.
		
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			So the main point of the author is
		
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			to practice, to practice, to practice, to practice.
		
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			Gets your reps in.
		
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			Getting your reps in is the most important
		
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			factor to establishing a new habit.
		
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			He says, when people ask, how long does
		
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			it take to establish a new habit?
		
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			That, it's the wrong question.
		
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			The right question is, how many repetitions does
		
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			it take to form a new habit?
		
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			Repetitions are the path to change, and habits
		
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			are all about frequency, not time.
		
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			So at point A, the habit, the new
		
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			habit, requires a ton of effort.
		
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			It's not automatic, a ton of concentration, and
		
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			it's not fun.
		
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			Pick one thing that you're already doing, a
		
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			habit that you're already doing, that you just
		
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			want to do more of, that you want
		
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			to increase the reps for.
		
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			If it's push-ups, if it's reading, if
		
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			it's language study, if it's Quran, if it's
		
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			Salah, whatever it is, try to do more
		
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			of it this week, just on your own,
		
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			and see how it goes.
		
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			Then, what we're going to do, is we're
		
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			going to try to do more of it
		
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			using his techniques for how to make doing
		
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			more reps easier, and we're going to see
		
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			if we can observe the difference.