New habit checklist
Most new habits die around the third week, once the initial motivation runs out. This is about building it to survive that point instead.
17 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- The habit written as a specific action, not a general intention'Exercise more' fails; 'a ten-minute walk after lunch' survives, because there's something concrete to actually do or not do.
- Tied to something that already happens every dayAfter the kettle boils, after brushing teeth — anchoring to an existing habit works better than relying on remembering.
- Made smaller than feels worth doingA habit sized for a good day collapses on a bad one; a habit sized for a bad day gets done on both.
- The obstacle that will actually stop it, named in advance
- What time of day it competes with
- What excuse will get used in week two
- What happens on the day that goes wrong
- Whatever it needs kept visible or readyThe mat unrolled, the book by the bed — friction removed before it's needed, not found in the moment.
- A way of tracking it that takes secondsA mark on a calendar, not an app with a habit of being abandoned.
- A stated minimum for a bad dayThe version that still counts when the day is disrupted — doing the small version beats an all-or-nothing rule that quietly becomes nothing.
- One person told, if that helps you keep to things
- A no-guilt rule for a missed dayOne missed day is a missed day; the habit that dies is the one abandoned after it, not the miss itself.
- A three-week check-in put in the diaryThis is where most habits are actually dropped, once the initial motivation has worn off.
- What changes if it's working, decided in advanceSo success is noticed rather than the habit just continuing unremarked until it quietly stops.
- Anything competing for the same slot, resolvedTwo new habits started in the same fortnight usually costs you both.
- The actual reason for doing it, written down onceWorth having to hand for the week the habit feels pointless.
- A realistic view of how long it takes to feel automaticCloser to two or three months than the three weeks people often expect.
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- Why does the habit need to be smaller than feels worth doing?
- Because a habit sized for a good day only survives on good days. Something small enough to do even when the day's gone wrong is what actually gets repeated often enough to become automatic.
- What usually kills a new habit?
- The third week, once the initial motivation has worn off and the routine hasn't taken over yet. Putting a check-in in the diary for that point specifically is worth more than any amount of enthusiasm in week one.
- Is missing a day the end of it?
- No — a missed day is just a missed day. What actually ends a habit is the guilt afterwards turning into avoidance, so the rule worth keeping is: miss a day if you must, but don't miss two in a row.