I’m one of those people who constantly has a thousand different interests and areas I’d like to improve in my life.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably found yourself overwhelmed with all of the possibilities and feeling unsure of where to start when it comes to building the life you want.
How on earth can I identify which habits to focus on when I have to many aspirations!?
Maybe you try one thing one week, and another thing another week, yet you struggle to make progress on any of the things due to spreading yourself too thin…
Or maybe you don’t get started at all, stuck in analysis paralysis because you can’t decide where to start…
I can relate to both scenarios.
Something that helped me was using a simple system to identify which habits to focus on first.
Instead of trying to do everything all at once, and achieving nothing, using this system allowed me to identify which habits were going to have the most impact on my goals right now.
And today I’m going to share this system with you, too.
How to create a Focus Map to reach your goals
The system I like to use to choose my next high-impact habit is called “Focus Mapping” and was created by BJ Fogg, author of the book “Tiny Habits”.
The idea behind a Focus Map is to help you identify which habits:
A) Are most effective at helping you reach your goals
B) Are the easiest to get yourself to actually do
This follows the Fogg Behaviour Model, which suggests that the easier a behaviour is to do, the less motivation you need to get it done:
First, start with your overarching goal or focus area.
I’m assuming you’ve spent some time identifying some broad level goals for yourself prior to doing this.
You might have goals in multiple areas of your life, and if so, you’ll need a separate Focus Map for each goal. I wouldn’t recommend working on more than 3-4 goals at a time – beyond that we start to spread ourselves a little thin.
For simplicity, let’s focus on just one goal here.
Let’s say your goal is to exercise more regularly.
Step 1: Brainstorm a list of behaviours that will help you achieve your goal
Thinking of your goal or focus area, write down a list of every habit or behaviour you can think of that could help you achieve that goal.
Don’t worry about whether you will actually do it or not right now, don’t judge or edit at this stage, we’re just looking for ideas and possibilities.
Some behaviours might be habits you do multiple times, while others might be actions you do once only. Keep them specific and measurable, including how many times per day or week you will do the thing.
For example, here’s a sample list of habits for the goal of exercising more regularly:
- set out workout clothes each night before bed
- schedule in 3 weekly workouts in my calendar on Sunday night
- hire a personal trainer for 2 workouts a week
- buy new workout clothes
- ask a friend to be my accountability buddy, and commit to messaging them 3 days a week after my workouts.
- go to group fitness classes 2 days a week
- join a gym
- go for morning walk before breakfast 3 days a week
- change into workout clothes immediately after work
- download new audiobook to listen to on walks
- etc.
Once you have your list of behaviours, we need to plot them on your Focus Map.
Step 2: Plot your habits on a Focus Map
The Y axis of your Focus Map sorts behaviours from least effective (low impact) to most effective (high impact) at helping you get to your goal.
The X axis sorts behaviours from least doable (hardest, you can’t see yourself realistically doing this behaviour very often) to most doable (easiest, you are confident you can get yourself to do this behaviour).
I recommend using post it notes for this exercise because it’s easier to visualise and move things around, but you can also write it down on paper, draw on a whiteboard, or just type it out if you prefer.
Now it’s time to plot the habits and behaviours on the Focus map.
First, sort your behaviours on the Y axis from low impact to high impact.
Next, move them along the X axis depending on how doable that behaviour feels for you right now.
When considering doability, look at your current time and energy availability, your schedule, your competing demands, and what you actually want to do.
Step 3: Select the high-impact habits you can realistically see yourself doing
Looking at your Focus Map, we’re now going to select a maximum of 3-4 habits to focus on this month.
Remember, we don’t want to focus on more than 4 habits at a time to prevent spreading our attention too thin. If you have more than one goal you’re working on, choose one habit per goal.
On your focus map, look at the top right quadrant.
The habits that fall here will be both high impact (highly effective at helping you reach your goal) as well as easy to get yourself to do. This is the sweet spot!
If you have multiple habits here, choose the 1-4 habits or behaviours you want to focus on this month.
(Note: If you have no behaviours in the top right hand corner, that’s ok. It just means you might need to think of some new behaviours that are both easy to get yourself to do and also high impact. Keep brainstorming!)
The secret to behaviour change: shifting your identity
Most of us stop after choosing a new habit or behaviour to focus on, but something I’ve learned after studying and testing behaviour change strategies is the power of identity.
We cannot shift our behaviours without also shifting our identity and how we see ourselves.
If we try to shift behaviour without shifting our identity, we will eventually go back to old habits (often subconsciously).
Before jumping into your new habit, I encourage you to select an identity trait that will align with the reason behind your habit or goal.
We never do habits in isolation.
Rather, habits are tools or steps on the journey to become the type of person we want to be.
If we want to exercise more regularly, it follows that we need to identify as an active person.
If we want to sleep better, perhaps we need to identify as an energetic person, or a focused person, or a calm person.
When you can connect your habits to an identity you wish to embody, and you start to label yourself accordingly, you become much more likely to act in accordance with that identity.
When considering an identity trait, I like to filter it through an “I am” statement.
For example:
- I am active
- I am focused
- I am calm
- I am playful
I recommend tracking how well you feel you embody each identity trait, as well as whether or not you follow through on your habits each day.
This gives you a fuller picture of whether or not you’re moving towards the life you want for yourself.
This is important because sometimes we miss habits for one reason or another, but if we still feel like we embodied the identity trait we wanted to, then the day is still a win.
Remember: the goal is to become the type of person we want to be, not just to tick a habit off.
James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits”, says:
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”
When thinking about identity shifts, think about how many votes you might have accrued towards that new identity each day. You’ll know if you feel aligned or not.
Focus Mapping is an exercise I like to do each month, to make sure my habits remain relevant and continue to challenge me.
As Oprah once said:
“You can have it all. Just not all at once.”
There is time to work on all the habits and behaviours you want to work on, just not all at once.
Use Focus Mapping to help you identify which habits fit your life right now, and then use it again to choose new habits next month (or as you see fit).
With this simple system in your corner, you’ll never feel unsure of which habits to focus on again!
P.S. Here’s a video Aaron made on this topic:
