Unveiling the Secret to Success: Habit Stacking and the Art of Strategic Focus

Have you ever noticed that when you try to focus on winning in all areas of your life, you end up not winning anywhere at all? 

Tony Robbins, entrepreneur and business strategist, was spot on when he said,

"Your life is controlled by what you focus on."

As a high-performance coach, do I coach on having goals in every area of your life? Of course!

You are more than just your business or just one facet of your life and it's really important to be growing and optimizing all areas for true fulfillment.

However, when it becomes an obsession to win in every area all at the same time, you're going to find out that you can't win in any of those areas because no person can focus on all areas at one time!

So how does a high performer handle needing to be successful in more than just one area of their life? One key is habit stacking.

What is Habit Stacking?

Habit stacking is a productivity and behavior change technique that involves "stacking" new habits onto existing ones. The concept was popularized by author James Clear in his book "Atomic Habits." By piggybacking off behaviors that are already established, you can reduce the effort required to implement change and increase the likelihood of success.

Habit stacking is really important because it's dialing in and laser focusing on one area, getting really good at that area, and then adding another habit into your life.

The habit can be in the same area (but perhaps just taking it next level) or a different level entirely. But again, it's one focused habit at a time.

Now that doesn't mean that you stop doing all your other habits while you're focused on this one. It just means that you don't try to develop multiple habits from scratch at the same time where you're trying to win everywhere and not winning anywhere. 

Here's how habit stacking works:

1. Identify an Existing Habit: Start by selecting a habit that you already perform regularly as part of your daily routine. This could be something simple like brushing your teeth, making coffee in the morning, or checking your email.

2. Choose a New Habit: Next, decide on the new habit you want to incorporate into your routine. This could be a small action that you want to do more consistently, such as drinking a glass of water after waking up, doing a short meditation session, or stretching for a few minutes.

3. Pair the Habits: Associate the new habit with the existing one by stacking them together. For example, if you've chosen to drink a glass of water after waking up as your new habit and brushing your teeth as your existing habit, you would mentally link the two actions: "After I brush my teeth, I will drink a glass of water."

4. Repeat and Reinforce: Consistently repeat the habit stack until it becomes automatic. Over time, the new behavior will become ingrained as part of your routine, making it easier to maintain in the long term!

I see the need for habit stacking all the time, including on the marketing side of my business. For example, I have a lot of potential leads come to me, and on the first sales call they say "I want to just make sure that I'm getting high engagement on all of the social media platforms. And I want to make sure my email funnels are working at their best. And I want to make sure that my website is converting."

First, let me be clear that I want all those things for my potential clients too. However, the key to success is taking it one step at a time! Marketing is all about testing, learning, adjusting, and repeating that process. 

It's about focus.

You cannot pay attention to ALL the things that need testing and adjusting at the same time because no one can focus on all areas at once. Is it tempting to try and make a huge to-do list and start checking it off? Of course! But when your attention is divided, each task receives only a fraction of the focus it truly deserves, leading to subpar results across the board.

You can still win everywhere, just not all at the same time. 

Your wins will end up creating the momentum to have more wins. All it takes is focus and some dedicated habit stacking to start your path to winning everywhere.

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