Routines Within Routines: Unload To Reload: And James Clear On Habit Stacking

If I eat an ounce, I’ll gorge on a gallon and fail.

The conversation went south quickly.

“I’d win,” I said — zero hesitation.

“Of all the things you’re good at,” he said, “this isn’t one of them.”

I continued to disagree until we reached an informal pizza-eating competition far in the future.

There’s simply no way that someone like me could win something so off-brand, something so out of character, he continued.

Another athlete in the room spoke up in my defense. She gets why I have so many habits and routines, checks and balances, disciplines, and compulsions — and it has nothing to do with strength.

Weakness and failure. It’s as simple as that: weakness and failure.

If I eat an ounce, I’ll gorge on a gallon and fail. That’s when the guilt comes.