In James Clear’s New York Times Bestseller, “Atomic Habits,” he outlines the Four Basic Laws of Behavior Change. These principles, designed to go beyond motivational methods of encouraging change in favor of creating new programming in one’s brain to cause desired behaviors to stick, include the following: 1) make it obvious; 2) make it attractive; 3) make it easy; and 4) make it satisfying. These fundamentals have many specific applications to starting and maintaining an elite level endurance program.
Law number one is “make it obvious.” A high level training program often involves waking up early in the morning to get in specific workouts. Making it obvious can be as simple as putting your alarm clock out of reach and placing everything you will need to begin your run between you and the alarm clock. When the alarm goes off, you should have to work your way around your running outfit, heart rate monitor, shoes, GPS watch, etc. Even your favorite electrolyte mix, maybe one with a little caffeine, is ready to go. Your phone should be charging in another room, to avoid the thought that the reason you are waking up is to start scrolling on social media.You may argue that your phone is your alarm clock, but think about that for a second – are alarm clocks really that expensive? Everything you encounter when that alarm goes off should have to do with running alone.
The second principle is “make it attractive.” The idea is to stack something you don’t want to do with something you do want to do. If you know that you will most likely bail out of a workout, then have a reward in place for completing the workout. Maybe once you finish your workout, you will reward yourself with a refresher from Starbucks. After you’re done with my long run, you will play one hour of video games online with your teammates who also showed up. According to Clear, the anticipation of the reward is often enough to make the thing you don’t want to do begin to instead give you a dopamine spike. As long as you hold to the reward system and don’t cheat (or hold your teammates to it, if you find them in the lobby of your favorite online game even though they did not complete the run), the difficult activity will begin to look very attractive to you.
Thirdly, Clear posits that to get a new habit to stick, you have to “make it easy.” Thus, your goal when your alarm goes off in the morning is not to go for a twenty mile run. That’s too hard! The goal is to put on your running shoes as quickly as possible when your alarm goes off. If you are out of your bed with running shoes on, you are most likely going to go for a run. Another easy goal, unlike going for a twenty mile run, is to run for a few minutes. Once you’ve started pounding the pavement, you are probably going to be more likely to keep it up rather than to go back to bed. Don’t overwhelm yourself in the morning with difficult goals, but keep them simple then see where you go from there.
The last principle of Clear’s Four Basic Laws of Behavior Change is “make it satisfying.” You need to have some kind of instant gratification prepared for once your workout is complete. My athletes get to immediately choose an electrolyte mix to add to their water bottles upon completing any run. They also have printed calendars they can fill in immediately with their mileage and type of training for the day. It's very gratifying to see a page filling up. You can have something special waiting for you at the end of your workout to immediately consume, as well. Being involved on a social media app like Strava will allow you to instantly look at your stats from your run and receive kudos and comments from friends, and satisfaction concerning your accomplishments.
These principles from "Atomic Habits" offer a strategic approach to embedding elite-level endurance training into daily routines effectively. By making the desired behavior obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying, individuals can create a supportive environment that encourages consistent performance and growth. Whether it's setting up a morning routine that primes you for a run, rewarding yourself for completing workouts, starting with manageable goals, or enjoying immediate post-exercise gratification, Clear's principles offer practical insights into overcoming obstacles and fostering long-term success in endurance running..
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