Don't Start From Scratch Starting from scratch is usually a bad idea. Too often, we assume innovative ideas and meaningful changes require a blank slate. When business projects fail, we say things like, "Let's go back to the drawing board." When we consider the habits we would like to change, we think, "I just need a fresh start." However, creative progress is rarely the result of throwing out all previous ideas and completely re imagining of the world. Consider an example from nature: Some experts believe the feathers of birds evolved from reptilian scales. Through the forces of evolution, scales gradually became small feathers, which were used for warmth and insulation at first. Eventually, these small fluffs developed into larger feathers capable of flight. There wasn't a magical moment when the animal kingdom said, "Let's start from scratch and create an animal that can fly." The development of flying birds was a gradual process of iterating and expanding upon ideas that already worked. The process of human flight followed a similar path. We typically credit Orville and Wilbur Wright as the inventors of modern flight. However, we seldom discuss the aviation pioneers who preceded them like Otto Lilienthal, Samuel Langley, and Octave Chanute. The Wright brothers learned from and built upon the work of these people during their quest to create the world's first flying machine. The most creative innovations are often new combinations of old ideas. Innovative thinkers don't create, they connect. Furthermore, the most effective way to make progress is usually by making 1 percent improvements to what already works rather than breaking down the whole system and starting over. Iterate, Don't Originate The Toaster Project is an example of how we often fail to notice the complexity of our modern world. When you buy a toaster, you don't think about everything that has to happen before it appears in the store. You aren't aware of the iron being carved out of the mountain or the oil being drawn up from the earth. We are mostly blind to the remarkable interconnectedness of things. This is important to understand because in a complex world it is hard to see which forces are working for you as well as which forces are working against you. Similar to buying a toaster, we tend to focus on the final product and fail to recognize the many processes leading up to it. When you are dealing with a complex problem, it is usually better to build upon what already works. Any idea that is currently working has passed a lot of tests. Old ideas are a secret weapon because they have already managed to survive in a complex world. Iterate, don't originate. Many people, myself included, have multiple areas of life they would like to improve. For example, I would like to reach more people with my writing, to lift heavier weights at the gym, and to start practicing mindfulness more consistently. Those are just a few of the goals I find desirable and you probably have a long list yourself. The problem is, even if we are committed to working hard on our goals, our natural tendency is to revert back to our old habits at some point. Making a permanent lifestyle change is really difficult. Recently, I've come across a few research studies that (just maybe) will make these difficult lifestyle changes a little bit easier. As you'll see, however, the approach to mastering many areas of life is somewhat counterintuitive. Before we talk about how to get started, I wanted to let you know I researched and compiled science backed ways to stick to good habits and stop procrastinating. Want to check out my insights? Download my free PDF guide "Transform Your Habits" here. Too Many Good Intentions If you want to master multiple habits and stick to them for good, then you need to figure out how to be consistent. How can you do that? Well, here is one of the most