Habits of a lifetime

Marginal gains have long been touted as the path to sporting success and forming habits is key. Luz Wollocombe asks top riders and psychologists how to make game-changing habits that last longer than a New Year's resolution

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IN the past decade, the life-changing power of good habits has hit the self-help sector with a bang. Multiple bestselling books on the subject, namely Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit and James Clear's Atomic Habits, argue that by changing small things in our daily routines, we can reach our goals. The lives we dreamt of can, at last, materialise. We can win Badminton. Or Olympic gold. Or even keep our car tidy.

The maths according to Atomic Habits, is simple. Clear says: “A habit is behaviour that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the end of the year.”

Professional habit psychologist Dr Heather McKee, whose clients include Starbucks, Warner Bros and Lululemon sportswear, explains how we can apply this to both our riding and home lives.

She says: “You see the 1% rule in sport and riding all the time. A small adjustment in your seat or leg position, or five extra minutes of groundwork each day, can completely change how a horse responds over a season.”

We all like the sound of that – but how do we actually form these habits? And how do we make them stick?

“It’s all about creating a ritual,” she says. “Systems matter more than willpower or intentions. Saying ‘I want to get fitter’ is an intention, but it’s the ritual that makes it happen: laying out your kit the night before, starting with a tiny warm-up you can’t talk yourself out of, or pairing your workout with something enjoyable so it becomes something you look forward to.

“It’s exactly the same in riding. A pre-ride ritual, tack organised in the same place, a familiar warm-up pattern – a predictable sequence before you get in the saddle signals to both your brain and your horse that it’s time to focus.”