The 5% Idea – A Simple Way to Build and Keep Maintenance Habits

I’m proud to say that I have flossed my teeth a lot more this year than I did the previous year. Though my average this year is only flossing two to three times per week, that average is by far higher than last year. Also, there wasn’t a week (well, perhaps one or two) over the last year where I didn’t floss my teeth! Very different than what I’ve done in the past. Flossing might seem like no big deal to someone else, but it is a big deal to me. Here I’ve taken a small thing that’s challenged me all my life, and I’ve made a big change in it that I fully believe I’ll keep for a lifetime. That’s an exciting start.

My reason for choosing flossing as an example is not to embarrass myself or to make you ill. (Rest assured -- I do brush my teeth regularly, and always have.) I chose flossing because this is an example of a persistent little habit that I tell myself I should really be doing, and yet I’m not, or at least I wasn’t. It’s one of the most difficult things I’ve ever attempted to do with any consistency—for me, at least. It’s a habit where not doing it costs me something. Not flossing might likely mean gum disease in my future. Both my mother and grandmother have had gum surgeries due to an inherited issue with their gums that is prevented by routine flossing.

What gets in the way of flossing or whatever habit you’re working on

I know flossing is an area I need to be cautious about and doing something about, but like so many things, it’s a small blip on the radar. The costs of not flossing are just not on my mind. What’s usually on my mind is that I’m tired at the end of the day and I want to go to bed. In the past, the act of flossing was usually not on my mind at all, and I would just forget to do it. Also, flossing is one of those maintenance habits where the cost of not doing it are so small on a near-term basis, so I just don’t think about it unless it’s a habit. Even though flossing might have long-term consequences, the lack of near-term ones makes it hard to focus and build a habit.

Another problem for me with flossing is that I think I should do it. I think that everyone else is doing it, just not me. So I tend to be impatient with myself. That impatience makes it again very hard to get a habit going. Most lifelong habits require some patience to set up. In doing a little online research, I uncovered some fun facts about flossing and other dental care issues. For example, 73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping rather than floss. Only about a quarter of us (at best) floss daily. So I’m not alone. I may not be the only person who for most of his life has only flossed before the dentist appointment to avoid the embarrassment of bleeding gums and getting chastised for not taking care of my teeth.

So, a few questions for you (feel free to post in the comments):

• Where do you find it difficult to set up maintenance habits, both personally and professionally?
• What have you tried to set up these habits, and what usually happens?

The 5% Idea – How we can improve in any maintenance area

I want to tell you about a fundamental principle of building success in any area, but I think it’s especially useful in successfully building maintenance habits. I call it the 5% Idea. The idea is to build the consistency of the habit first and then build on top of that consistency small improvements (hence the 5%) until you are doing the habit at the level you want. I am firmly convinced based on many trials on my own habits and over the years with clients that in order to get great long term results around a maintenance area, you need to build in the habit’s consistency first, and the amplitude later. We tend not to approach those habits this way.

Why does following the 5% Idea work so well? Most of us have a few habits that we’re convinced are very important to our results, but around which we’re horribly inconsistent in our delivery. You might be very inconsistent in getting your project-related work done, as the day is filled with urgencies. You’re then confronted by being behind on your projects and having to crunch to catch up. Investing in relationships can often be inconsistent: we may be reacting to our customers rather than really staying ahead of them and engendering great relationships. We may be inconsistent in investments like our relationship with our partner, our children or ourselves. Self-maintenance activities like diet, exercise, and others can be especially problematic.

Why crunching doesn’t work on our maintenance habits

So most of us have these areas that are extremely important to our results, and we know we should be doing them, but we’re not, or more likely, when we do them we do it inconsistently. Can you relate? Instead of your exercise being a consistent habit, maybe it’s an “if time” habit that’s all over the map from week to week. These habits can get so bad that we may swing wildly between no time spent on the activity and crunch times where we try to “get back in shape” in that area and make up for lost time. Usually, though, you can’t “crunch” on a maintenance habit.

As an example, you can’t do crunch time on flossing to make it up. I can’t floss only one month a year, no matter how consistently during that month, and expect my gums not to know the difference. They will know! Time with employees is another great example of this. You can’t ignore them during your busy times and expect them to be receptive when you have the time. When the labor market is tight, you can’t expect them to even still be there if you haven’t been investing in them. To get results, we’ve got to invest in these habits consistently over time.

More on the 5% Idea to come and some fieldwork for you in the interim

Flossing my teeth is not the only success I’ve had with the 5% Idea. I’ve had a number of others. For example, I’ve been exercising at a consistent level for the last two years. Previous to that I’d fade in and out, depending on what was going on in my life. I spent a year applying the 5% idea to exercise, slowly building up my consistency and the volume of exercise. And now, for the last two years, I’ve consistently kept my exercise goal of two hours of running and one hour of walking per week. Even during the holidays, and that’s not easy! The best part is that I’m 100% confident I’ve got a habit strong enough to last a lifetime. I’d be happy to post about how I used the 5% idea on exercise if you’re interested. (Just let me know in the comments.)

My next post will explain more of why the 5% Idea works so well, and how it deals with some of our makeup as people. I’ll also get into the exact details of how you can apply it yourself. At a high level, though, here’s how you apply it:

• Examine your past, either by measurement or logging a period of time.
• Ask yourself, how am I really doing on this habit? What’s my current average?
• Work to build the habit at that level, focusing on delivering those results continually.
• Grow the level of the habit (e.g. how much you exercise each week) in 5% increments, until you’ve built up the habit to the right level for you.

Here’s some fieldwork for you. I’d suggest asking yourself these questions soon, perhaps on your way home from work today.

• What are a few habits where I’m not consistent in my efforts, but want to be?
• What are the excuses or blocks that get in the way of me putting in time and effort consistently? What are these excuses costing me?
• How much do I think I should be doing these things? As I start to think about my past performance, on average how often do I think I actually do these things?