Enabling Habit Ecosystems

(4 mins read) 

In last week's article we talked about how you can build habits into your life. 

But I often wondered if there was a way to go one up on that and build an ecosystem of habits to perform on a whole different level? 

In this article, we will cover how some of these habits, coupled together, create exponential impact.

Let's begin to understand this ecosystem beast slightly better.

What is a Habit Ecosystem?

An ecosystem is defined as an area where organisms(Plants, animals, other creatures) as well as externalities(weather and landscape), work together to achieve an end result (form a bubble of life).

We will take this exact analogy and replicate what an ecosystem represents in habit terms. Let me take the liberty to define a habit ecosystem.

A habit ecosystem manifests itself as a mental model(area) where a set of habits(organisms) as well as optimizations(weather) and processes(landscape) work together to form an achievement of expertise(bubble of life).

Simplified,

Area ~ Mental model

Organisms ~ Habit sets(A set of complementary habits)

Landscape ~ An overarching Processes framework

Weather ~ Optimization related to habits

Bubble of life ~ Achievement of Expertise(The endgame)

Now that we know the constituents, let's know more about the building of this framework. 

This building of an ecosystem does not come easy and one must cross the valley of despair - a rite of passage.

The Despair Valley

The biggest issue with habits or associated ecosystems is their sustainability and retention. Most things we start, we end up quitting out of frustration or lack of quick wins.

I’m sure you have all been through this valley of despair as well.

Status quo is comfortable and we resist change. In fact, humans are wired to perceive any change as a threat activating the stress response. 

No wonder that we fight change so much and resist overhauls.

The Kubler-Ross Change Model depicts this aptly. Change is fought at first, pushing us into the valley of despair and routinization happens much later. 

In a multi-habit scenario - this interplay becomes both interesting and challenging.

But is there a way to choose habits that interplay and support each other fueling your inner sense of achievement? 

This is where self-sustaining habits come in. 

Self-Sustaining Habit sets(Organisms)

A good habit sustained over time gives you a decent ROI. 

When you put a few complementing habits together and sustain these over time, they compound giving you a disproportionate ROI.

Again, let's take the example that I quoted in the last article on Habits. 

I support my early hours in the morning with a morning routine. These are my top 3 activities (Done in the same order):

1. 30 minutes of no activity but music - Music in the ears and visualizations.

2. A morning jog - To quell any nervous energy. I find running therapeutic.

3. Meditation - To help give me a sense of calm before I hustle through my day.

The 30 mins of music feeds into my running by building up my internal tempo(move from light piano all the way to EDM/Punjabi).

The run helps convert the built up energy and any pent up frustration. Post running, it is easier for me to slide into a calm meditative state after the nervous energy is expelled - something that took me a good part of 5 mins.

There is no force though - some days I just relax and listen to "Brown Munde" on repeat and I think it's a perfectly good replacement. :)

Long story short - these 3 habits interplay well for me- compounding my sense of calm and achievement before I’ve even had a meal or started work.

Process Layer(Landscape) and Optimizations(Weather)

We all generally follow 3 process layers unconsciously:

• Time bound process - When to do a particular activity

• Learning process - How to do a particular activity

• Goal setting process - How are we progressing

There are also tactical optimizations that make the experience better: Good music and podcasts, good running shoes and a pleasant trail, and good quality meditation content.

Here we have defined just one Habit set. I have built other habit sets around my work and around my personal life. (Keep them confined to no more than 3 - Will cover in the rule of 3 in the next article)

If you go one level higher, habit sets interplay with each other too and that feeds into your final outcome. These help me and can definitely help you be the best version of yourself.

Tying it all together

This is my take on what such an ecosystem looks like. As we have defined - it consists of habit sets, processes, optimizations and these play together to build you up incrementally.

When I further break down one of my habit sets, this picture emerges.

Naturally, the yield curve of such an ecosystem over time is much steeper as you add more habits/habit sets and throw them all into the mix.

While I may be defining fresh new frameworks and may have broken this down academically, these ideas are intuitive and must be adopted keeping in mind your life stage, circumstances and supporting structures.

How can you do the same?

Get a pen and paper or an excel sheet and define your ecosystem today - start small by casting out some existing habits and incrementally adding new ones to your schedule.

There will be a lot of hit and trial before you hit upon the best possible combination that works for you. Took me a good part of 3 months to land upon something that works for me but good to start somewhere and understand yourself. Self awareness, after all is the first step to enlightenment!

Are you ready to be the best version of yourself? I wish you luck in this pursuit. 

Next Article: Rule of 3 extended.

Peace!

Creds for Change model: Slidesalad.com