💪🏻How Can Your Systems Build Habits?🌈

How Can Your Systems Build Habits?

Most of us think habits are built through discipline, motivation, or simply trying harder.

But in reality, habits are built by something much quieter—and far more powerful:

Your systems.

As James Clear writes in Atomic Habits:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

If you’ve ever wondered why some behaviors happen almost automatically while others feel like a constant struggle, the answer is rarely willpower. It’s structure.

Habits Are the Result of Your Systems

A system is any repeated pattern that guides your behavior:

• Your schedule

• Your routines

• Your environment

• How you make decisions

Whether intentional or not, every system is training you. It reinforces what gets attention, what gets repeated, and what eventually happens with more ease.

When a habit doesn’t stick, it’s often because the surrounding system isn’t supporting it. In other words, you may be getting in your own way.

The Quiet Habit Loop at Work

Every system builds habits in three simple (and often unnoticed) ways:

• Cues tell you what to pay attention to

• Actions make certain behaviors easier than others

• Reinforcement gives your brain a reason to repeat the behavior

When cues are clear, actions are simple, reinforcement feels meaningful and habits form naturally. When one of these steps are missing, even the best intentions can fade.

What This Looks Like in Real Life

I’ve had a solid morning system in place for years. Here’s how it works:

1. Cue: I wake up and put on my workout clothes.

2. Action: This removes the decision of whether I’m in the mood to work out and makes it easier for me to just do it.

3. Reinforcement: I always feel better after I move my body.

This system was built over time using the habit chain concept—connecting a new habit to an existing one:

Wake up → put on workout clothes → make coffee → stretch while the coffee brews → journal with my coffee → work out → start the day.

No motivation required. Just a well-designed system that works for me. Give yourself compassion as you build your system. It takes time.

Systems Shape Self-Trust, Not Just Behavior

Every time you do what you tell yourself you’re going to do, you build trust with yourself.

And when self-trust grows, so does your willingness to:

• Take on stretch goals

• Believe you can do what matters most

• Dream a little bigger than before

Systems don’t just change what you do. They change what you believe is possible. That’s big!

How Can You Design Your System?

Let’s use exercise as an example.

Start small:

1. Take a teeny-tiny step

   • Choose one day a week and a specific time

2. Connect the new habit to an existing one

   • As soon as you get home from work (or wake up), put on your workout clothes

3. Take action without overthinking

   • Move your body for just five minutes to start

4. Notice how you feel afterward

5. Continue one baby step at a time

As James Clear reminds us:
“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.”

Ask Yourself…

What’s one habit that would support me in becoming the leader I want to be?

Start there—and let your system do the heavy lifting.