James Clear wanted to start flossing, but he never managed to follow through. Despite his best intentions, his dental floss sat unused in a bathroom drawer.

Fortunately, James had learned a thing or two about human behavior and habit formation. As a self-improvement writer, he’d spent hours pouring over scientific data about behavior changes. He decided to apply a few of these concepts to his own quest.

First, he placed the floss on the bathroom counter, rather than tucking it inside a drawer. He made the floss visible.

Second, he realized he didn’t enjoy the tactile sensation of wrapping floss around his fingers, so he replaced it with floss picks. He made the floss more enjoyable.

Finally, he decided to floss immediately after brushing his teeth. He used a technique called “habit stacking,” in which a new habit is more likely to stick if it’s tied, or triggered, by an existing habit like toothbrushing.

Thanks to these techniques, James built a flossing habit. He shares these tactics and more in today’s podcast episode.

James Clear is one of the most well-respected and widely-known thinkers and writers in the world of habit formation and behavior change.

His website, jamesclear.com, gets more than one million visitors every month.

In this week’s episode, we deep-dive into how to create impressive habits and how to break the terrible habits that hold you back

If you’d like to start new habits like exercising, saving more, investing, meditating, journaling, practicing yoga or flossing, but despite your best intentions you can’t seem to make the habit stick, then this week’s podcast episode is for you.

 

Resources Mentioned:

---

Thanks to our sponsors!

MasterClass
With MasterClass you can learn from the best to become your best. Get 15% off any annual membership at MasterClass.com/afford.

---

Shopify
Sign up for your one month, one dollar per month trial period and start selling today at shopify.com/paula

---

Indeed
If you’re looking for amazing talent to bolster your team, you need Indeed. Go to indeed.com/paula and start hiring with a seventy-five dollar sponsored job credit.

This article includes an excerpt from Atomic Habits, my New York Times bestselling book.

If you want to stick with a habit for good, one simple and effective thing you can do is keep a habit tracker.

Here’s why:

Elite performers will often measure, quantify, and track their progress in various ways. Each little measurement provides feedback. It offers a signal of whether they are making progress or need to change course.

Gabrielle Hamilton, a chef in New York City, provides a good example. During an interview with the New York Times, she said, “The one thing I see that consistently separates the chef from the home cook is that we taste everything, all the time, before we commit it to the dish, right down to the grains of salt. We slurp shot glasses of olive oil and aerate them in our mouths as if it were a wine we were trying to know. We taste the lamb, the fish, the butter, the milk before we use it… we chew salt to see how we like it in our teeth, on our tongues, and to know its flavor, its salinity.” 1

For the chef, tasting the ingredients tells them whether they are making progress toward their desired end goal. It provides the immediate feedback they need to get the recipe just right.

Like a chef improving a recipe through trial and error, we often improve our habits through trial and error. If one approach doesn’t deliver the desired effect, then we adjust—like a chef tweaking the amount of an ingredient.

However, there is an important difference between getting feedback while cooking a meal and getting feedback while building a habit. When it comes to building a habit, feedback is often delayed. It’s easy to taste an ingredient or to watch bread rise in the oven. But it can be difficult to visualize the progress you are making with your habits. Perhaps you’ve been running for a month, but you still don’t see a change in your body. Or maybe you managed to meditate for 16 straight days, but you still feel stressed and anxious at work. 2

Habit formation is a long race. It often takes time for the desired results to appear. And while you are waiting for the long-term rewards of your efforts to accumulate, you need a reason to stick with it in the short-term. You need some immediate feedback that shows you are on the right path.

And this is where a habit tracker can help.

The Habit Tracker: What It Is and How It Works

A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit.

The most basic format is to get a calendar and cross off each day you stick with your routine. For example, if you meditate on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, each of those dates gets an X. As time rolls by, the calendar becomes a record of your habit streak.

To make this process as easy as possible, I created the Habit Journal, which includes 12 habit tracker templates—one for each month. All you have to do is add your habit and start crossing off the days.

Placing an X on each day is the classic look. I prefer something a little more design-oriented, so I shade in the cells on my habit tracker. You could also use checkmarks or fill your habit tracker with dots.

No matter what design you choose, the key point is your habit tracker provides immediate evidence that you completed your habit. It’s a signal that you are making progress. Of course, that’s not all it does…

Habit tracking is powerful for three reasons.

1. It creates a visual cue that can remind you to act.
2. It is motivating to see the progress you are making. You don’t want to break your streak.
3. It feels satisfying to record your success in the moment.

Let’s break down each one.

Benefit #1: A habit tracker reminds you to act.

Habit tracking naturally builds a series of visual cues. When you look at the calendar and see your streak, you’ll be reminded to act again.

Research has shown that people who track their progress on goals like losing weight, quitting smoking, and lowering blood pressure are all more likely to improve than those who don’t. One study of more than sixteen hundred people found that those who kept a daily food log lost twice as much weight as those who did not. A habit tracker is a simple way to log your behavior, and the mere act of tracking a behavior can spark the urge to change it.

Habit tracking also keeps you honest. Most of us think we act better than we do. Measurement offers one way to overcome our blindness to our own behavior and notice what’s really going on each day. When the evidence is right in front of you, you’re less likely to lie to yourself.

Benefit #2: A habit tracker motivates you to continue.

The most effective form of motivation is progress. When we get a signal that we are moving forward, we become more motivated to continue down that path. In this way, habit tracking can have an addictive effect on motivation. Each small win feeds your desire.

This can be particularly powerful on a bad day. When you’re feeling down, it’s easy to forget about all the progress you have already made. Habit tracking provides visual proof of your hard work—a subtle reminder of how far you’ve come. Plus, the empty square you see each morning can motivate you to get started because you don’t want to lose your progress by breaking your streak.

Benefit #3: A habit tracker provides immediate satisfaction.

Finally, tracking feels rewarding. It is satisfying to cross an item off your to-do list, to complete an entry in your workout log, or to mark an X on the calendar. It feels good to watch your results grow and if it feels good, then you’re more likely to endure.

Habit tracking also helps keep your eye on the ball: you’re focused on the process rather than the result. You’re not fixated on getting six-pack abs, you’re just trying to keep the streak alive and become the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts.

Habit Tracker Ideas

Alright, those benefits sound great, but it’s not necessary to fill your habit tracker with every habit that makes up your day. In fact, if you’re already sticking to a habit, then it seems like extra work to me to track it as well. So what should you measure in your habit tracker?

Habit tracking can help kickstart a new habit or keep you on track with behaviors that you tend to forget or let slide when things get busy.

In Atomic Habits, I recommend using the Two-Minute Rule, which suggests you scale your habits down until they take two minutes or less to perform. You can track whatever habits you want in your habit tracker, but I recommend starting with these super small habits to make sure that you are at least showing up in a small way each day. I’ll share some examples below and break them out by daily, weekly, and monthly habits.

Common daily habits to track:

• journal 1 sentence
• read 1 page
• meditate 1 minute
• do 1 push up
• stretch for 1 minute
• write 1 thing I’m grateful for
• make your bed
• wake up by [TIME]
• go to bed by [TIME]
• take a shower
• floss teeth
• weigh myself
• take medication
• take vitamins/supplements
• play [INSTRUMENT] for 1 minute
• contact 1 potential client
• prioritize to-do list
• say “I love you” at least once
• put all dishes put away
• take a walk outside
• call mom
• walk the dog

Notice that most items on this list can be completed in two minutes or less. Make your habits so easy that you can stick to them even on the hard days.

For something to become truly habitual, you need to repeat it frequently. As a result, most habits are daily. But it can also be helpful to use a habit tracker for various weekly or monthly routines. These behaviors won’t become “automatic” like tying your shoes or brushing your teeth, but a habit tracker can remind you to complete them nonetheless.

Common weekly habits to track:

• publish blog post
• vacuum
• take out trash/recycling
• do the laundry
• water the plants
• tidy up your bedroom
• write a thank you note

Monthly habits:

• review finances
• transfer money to savings account
• pay off credit cards
• pay bills
• deep clean the house

You can also use a habit tracker to simply count how often you do something. For example, if you want to keep track of how many days you travel for work each month.

Other ideas:

• days spent traveling
• conduct weekly review
• conduct monthly review

Finally, you can use a habit tracker to measure what you don’t do. I call these “habits of avoidance” (that is, behaviors you are trying to avoid).

Habits of avoidance:

• no alcohol
• no Netflix
• no online purchases
• no soda
• no sugar
• no caffeine
• no smoking

Again, the Habit Journal offers a proven template and the fastest way to create your habit tracker. No need to spend an hour drawing your own grid. Just write your habits down and you’re ready to go.

How to Get in the Habit of Using Your Habit Tracker

Despite all of the benefits, a habit tracker is not something that makes sense in every situation or for every person. Many people resist the idea of tracking and measuring. It can feel like a burden because it forces you into two habits: the habit you’re trying to build and the habit of tracking it. That said, nearly anyone can benefit from habit tracking in one form or another—even if it’s only temporary.

What can we do to make habit tracking easier?

First, manual tracking should be limited to your most important habits. It is better to consistently track one habit than to sporadically track ten. I tend to keep my habit tracker simple and limit it to my three or four most important habits.

Second, record each measurement immediately after the habit occurs. The completion of the habit is the cue to write it down. (This is a twist on the “habit stacking” approach I discuss in Chapter 5 of Atomic Habits.) 3

Here’s the basic formula: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [TRACK MY HABIT].

For example:

• After I hang up the phone from a sales call, I will mark the “call 1 potential client” column.
• After I finish meditating, I will fill the “meditate for 1 minute” column.
• After I put my plate in the dishwasher, I will complete the “put all dishes away” column.

Basically, what we are talking about here is getting in the habit of using your habit tracker. These little rules help you remember to pick up your habit tracker and mark off another accomplishment.

How to Recover Quickly When Your Habits Break Down

Finally, I want to discuss what to do when you fall off the wagon.

Every habit streak ends at some point. Perfection is not possible. Before long, an emergency will pop up—you get sick or you have to travel for work or your family needs a little more of your time. Whenever this happens to me, I try to remind myself of a simple rule:

Never miss twice.

If I miss one day, I try to get back into it as quickly as possible. Missing one workout happens, but I’m not going to miss two in a row. Maybe I’ll eat an entire pizza, but I’ll follow it up with a healthy meal. As soon as one streak ends, I get started on the next one. I can’t be perfect, but I can avoid the second mistake.

Generally speaking, the first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. As I write in Atomic Habits, “Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.”

Too often, we fall into an all-or-nothing cycle with our habits. The problem is not slipping up; the problem is thinking that if you can’t do something perfectly, then you shouldn’t do it at all.

Sure, a perfectly filled-in habit tracker looks beautiful and you should strive to achieve it whenever possible. But life is messy. In the long run, what matters is that you find a way to get back on track.

How Long Do I Need to Track My Habits?

One of the most common questions I get is “How long does it take to build a habit?”

You’ll see all kinds of answers: 21 days, 30 days, 100 days. One popular answer right now is 66 days because there was one study that found that, on average, it took 66 days to build a habit. However, even within that study the range was quite wide depending on the difficulty of the habit.

I find that people are really trying to get at something else when they ask, “How long does it take to build a habit?” What they often mean is, “How long until it’s easy? How long until I don’t have to put much effort in anymore?”

Look, all habits get easier with practice. But this line of questioning ignores the real purpose of building better habits in the first place.

How long does it take? The honest answer is: forever. Because once you stop doing it, it is no longer a habit.

A habit is a lifestyle to be lived, not a finish line to be crossed. You are looking to make small, sustainable changes you can stick with for years. And a habit tracker is one tool in your toolbox on the road to behavior change. It is an effective way to visualize your progress and motivate you to show up again tomorrow.

This article is an excerpt from Chapter 16 of my New York Times bestselling book Atomic Habits. Read more here.

Last Updated May 23, 2025 (originally published November 21, 2018)

Key Takeaways Helping clients develop nutritional habits may be the key to long-term behavior change success. You can empower your clients by teaching them how to develop new habits and helping them embrace the power of process goals as steppingstones to longer-term objectives. The 5 keystone habits covered are: Increase awareness of current habits. Plan dinners for the week. Sit down to eat, share and connect with others. Enjoy food. Begin with the end in mind.

 

When it comes to discussing behavior change and nutrition with your clients, it is outside of your scope of practice as a health and exercise professional to provide psychological counseling or detailed menu plans (unless you have additional credentials in those fields). However, if you aren’t talking to your clients about their health behaviors and nutrition, you could be missing important areas of potential improvement.

According to Charles Duhigg, author , nearly half of the decisions we make in a day are not actually decisions—they are habits. That is, we complete tasks without conscious thought (brushing your teeth and backing out of the driveway, for example, require almost no effort). 

If this same theory holds true for food decisions, many people probably put little to no thought into half of their intake. The decision to stop on the way to work for a coffee drink or eat candy in the afternoon may not be a conscious thought, but a habit driven by a cue. And, unfortunately, as Duhigg writes, some habits are “so strong, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else… including common sense.”

Thus, if you want to encourage your clients to adopt a healthier lifestyle, focus on the process. Adaptation is a process, and being process-oriented rather than results-oriented may actually lead to better long-term results (and therefore, better client retention). Clients may be looking for immediate results, but they typically hire a health and exercise professional to help them learn, grow and progress in multiple areas of health and wellness.

What are the associative habits that lead to healthier behaviors? Your clients undoubtedly know they should eat a variety of whole, unprocessed foods, but how do you help them turn choosing whole foods into a daily behavior?

In other words, what are the keystone habits for improved nutrition? Exercise is certainly one. According to researcher James Prochaska, lead developer of the transtheoretical model of behavior change and author of Changing to Thrive, when people start exercising regularly they also start eating better, become more productive, smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and families.

Advising clients to adopt the following five habits may help improve their chances for success for healthy eating:

Advising clients to adopt the following five habits may help improve their chances for success for healthy eating:

• Increase awareness of current habits. The first step in changing a habit is recognizing the cues and rewards that accompany it. Because many people have a tendency to mindlessly consume food, awareness is the vital first step in developing healthier habits. Help your clients recognize and care about what and how much they are (and are not) eating. Calories count, but you do not always need to count them. Understanding patterns and triggers/cues is far more useful than calculating calories and macros. Keeping a detailed food record (either on paper or online) that allows for subjective comments for two to three days is a great starting point.
• Plan dinners for the week. Clients may notice that it’s easier to make healthy lifestyle decisions early in the day. Making smart choices is especially challenging when life becomes hectic. Consider a typical evening after a long day at work, picking up the kids, sitting in traffic and arriving home at 6:00 p.m. Feeling mentally and physically exhausted, many people are far more likely to heat up a frozen pizza or grab fast food rather than decide what healthy food to make and then actually cook it. Planning a dinner menu for the week removes the energy associated with making a decision when you are tired and hungry. In addition, it helps create a shopping list for the week. Urge your clients to plan to use fresh foods (e.g., salads and fish) early in the week and foods that last (e.g., frozen vegetables and meats) later in the week. 
• Sit down to eat, share and connect with others. According to the World Happiness Report, one in four Americans report eating all their meals alone the previous day, which is a 53% increase from 2003. Eating in solitude is associated with  cognitive decline and an increased risk of depression, as well as decreased food diversity, lower vegetable and fruit intake, reduced caloric intake, skipping meals, and over– and underweight. Approximately 50% of parents report having family meals seven or more times per week. Sitting down to eat with family or friends can coincide with a cascade of healthy behaviors. One study, for example, found that children who eat dinner with their families have higher dietary diversity, lower ultra-processed food consumption, and a healthy body mass index. In addition, frequent family meals may contribute to the emotional and social well–being of the parent.
• Enjoy food. Eating indulging foods should not produce guilt. When referring to foods and behaviors, throw out the words good and bad. Instead, consider what should be done more frequently and what should be done less frequently. Encourage clients to eat a variety of foods.
• Begin with the end in mind. As Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, urged, establishing a long-term goal and creating a series of small goals to progress toward that end goal develops consistent behaviors that develop into habits. One example is to sign up for a race or event (e.g., a half-marathon in six months with a 5K and 10K along the way). This “carrot” is what leads to those extra 20 minutes of exercise that might not otherwise have been done. And those 20 minutes, a few days a week, over the course of a year add up to a significant change and hopefully new habits. Additionally, encourage a growth mindset; that is, do not allow your clients to define themselves by their shortcomings or failures. After a hiccup, do not wait until Monday (or the 1st of the month) to reboot, but instead start back up on a healthy eating plan after those last few bites of dessert.

The simple truth is that no single secret or keystone habit exists. Hard work, consistency and patience—on both the health and exercise professional and client’s part—are vital to fostering lasting results. Above all, establish a consistently healthy culture that becomes contagious.

 

To learn more from Justin Robinson and other nutrition experts, register now for the ACE Health and Fitness Summit: Evidence-Based Nutrition for Coaches and Trainers. This event takes place on May 30, 2025, from 8:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PDT. In addition to Justin’s session on optimizing fitness and well-being through gut health science, the event will explore everything from plant-based nutrition to obesity medications. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to elevate your coaching game with science-backed nutrition insights from our panel of experts.