Google research says successfully forming a lifelong habit comes down to 1 word

Since exercise can make you smarter, less stressed, and happier, Google decided to find ways to help employees exercise more often. The research team assigned employees to one of three groups:

• People in one group were asked to pick a convenient two-hour window, and to follow a strict routine: something along the lines of “work out at 6 p.m. every day.” They then received a financial reward every time they worked out.
• People in a second group followed a flexible plan, working out whenever they wished. They also received a financial reward every time they worked out.
• People in the third group (the control group) were simply “encouraged” to work out more: no routine, no plan, no financial reward pay.

Unsurprisingly, getting paid to exercise worked a treat: People in the “routine” and the “flexible” groups worked out more often than those in the control group.

More surprisingly, after four weeks—when the exercise habit was theoretically established, and the researchers stopped paying participants—the flexible group (the people who followed a plan) were more than twice as likely to keep working out than the strict group (the people who had established a rigid routine).

Sound odd? Possibly, since high achievers love to talk about consistently following their rigid (especially morning) routines.

Problem is, routines are great until something disrupts that routine. In fact, the more rigid your routine, the more likely your routine will occasionally get disrupted. Something comes up, and you have to miss today’s 6 p.m. workout? There goes your routine for the day—and since habits are a lot easier to break than form, tomorrow’s workout is also in peril. (Decades into exercising regularly, if I miss two workouts in a row, it’s still really hard to make myself work out on the third day.)

The flexible group? Their exercise wasn’t tied to a specific routine or time. They often worked out when they planned, but sometimes they worked out when they could. Or they squeezed in a shorter workout. They wanted to work out, and taking a flexible approach gave them the latitude to figure out how to make it happen.

The difference? A somewhat flexible approach isn’t a routine; it’s a practice. Here are a few examples of the difference:

• Making cold calls every day between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. is a routine. Making 10 cold calls by the end of every day is a practice.
• Holding an all-hands Zoom call every day at 10 a.m. is a routine. Checking in with one or two employees by the end of every day to see if they need help is a practice.
• Eating broccoli and a sweet potato for lunch every day is a routine. Getting four or five servings of vegetables every day is a practice.

Routines are what you do. Practices are also what you do, but more important, they shape who you are.

• Can’t make cold calls at 4 p.m.? If you truly believe sales cures all and you make selling a practice, you’ll catch up later. Or make a few calls earlier in the day.
• Can’t hold an all-hands Zoom call at 10 a.m.? If you truly believe your job is to motivate and develop employees, you’ll make checking in with employees a practice. You’ll stop by and chat with someone on your way to your office. Or you’ll spend a few minutes pitching in on the shop floor.

If what you want to do is important, you’ll find a way. As Ryan Holiday writes about routines and practices:

The difference is in the flexibility.

One is about daily rhythm. The other is a lifelong pursuit. One can be ruined by something as simple as hitting the snooze button one too many times or getting called into work unexpectedly. The other can adapt accordingly.

One (a routine) is something you made up. The other (a practice) is something you do.

Routines are fine, but if something happens to disrupt your routine, take a step back and focus on the goal your routine is designed to help you achieve, and then just achieve that goal in a different way.

Never lose sight of the fact that every element in a routine is goal-driven, and there are a variety of ways to achieve a goal. To grow sales. To check in with employees. To monitor performance. To get customer feedback.

To do almost anything.

If you can follow a certain routine, great. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day. That’s easy. The only way it’s hard is if I let myself run out of protein bars.

In most cases, though, routines are tough to consistently follow. That’s where practices come in. I want to live a longer, healthier life, so I try to work out every day. Most days, that’s around 4 p.m. But sometimes it’s as late as 7 p.m., and other times earlier in the day. Most of the time that involves an hour or so of lifting, but if I can’t get in a full hour, I’ll modify what I do. If I can’t use weights, I’ll do bodyweight exercises. If lifting was a rigid routine, having to adapt would be irritating, and maybe even feel defeating. Since lifting is a practice, having to adapt is actually fun. (The other day I only had 30 minutes or so to work out, so I did 400 pushups and 400 vertical leg lifts.)

As Holiday would say, working out isn’t something I made up. It’s what I do. Exercise is a lifelong pursuit.

And I can keep doing it because, instead of a rigid routine, it’s a flexible practice that allows me to adapt to whatever the day might bring.

—Jeff Haden

This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc.

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