Serena had always enjoyed cooking dinner and it was a Home Court Habit she highly valued. Then when her schedule got a little crazy her cooking habit fell by the wayside. While struggles like this are pretty normal when life gets busy, what stumped Serena was that her cooking habit never resumed even when her schedule got back to normal.

Often what stops you from maintaining a healthy habit is that you view it as a chore rather than as something you enjoy, but this wasn’t the case for Serena. She truly did love to cook and felt very strongly about all the ways it positively impacted her life that were now missing.

So what happened?

It took some digging, but Serena and I ultimately discovered that she had lost one of her Supporting Habits––meal prepping––that gave her the edge she needed to maintain a regular cooking habit. It turns out that meal prepping is the difference between whether making dinner is easy when she gets home from work or feels like a big project she doesn’t have the energy for. We then took a look at her current schedule and found a way to fit meal prepping back into her week so she could start cooking again.

This episode takes you through how to go about identifying and reinstating Supporting Habits that are necessary for maintaining your Home Court Habits and long-term health.

Wish you had more time to listen to the podcast? I use an app called Overcast (no affiliation) to play back my favorite podcasts at faster speeds, dynamically shortening silences in talk shows so it doesn’t sound weird. It’s pretty rad.

Related links:

Foodist Kitchen

Decision Fatigue

Zojirushi rice cooker

Farro recipes

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Moving to an entirely new city is the ultimate test in building habits. If you had asked me in San Francisco what the core Home Court Habits are that keep me healthy, I would have smiled smugly and cited eating breakfast, cooking, working out, walking my dog, and meditation. I got this healthstyle thing down, ya know?

But those are just the surface level, obvious habits that give me the results I want. What’s easy to forget is that there are also several Supporting Habits that are necessary for my Home Court Habits to remain functional. For example, it’s really hard to cook dinner at night if you don’t have any food in your fridge or pantry. That makes grocery shopping an essential Supporting Habit.

If you’re struggling to form a new habit, it can be helpful to take a closer look at the actions surrounding that habit. Pay attention to the exact moment you decide to not take the action you had intended and ask what you could have done earlier to make your new habit easier. Sometimes a simple new Supporting Habit can be the secret to creating a successful new Home Court Habit.

Here are some essential Supporting Habits that often get neglected, but keep in mind that everyone has different needs and resources so you have to figure out yours yourself.

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