Habits Specifically for 2024
POSITIVE AFFIRMATION
"Today I’ll work on a new habit that’ll set me up for future success."
Crypto gets an ETF. Flashpoint with Israel and Palestine, while Ukraine rages on. Get ready for the crazy US election cycle. Everybody is talking AI while people continue to get lonelier every year.
“As time passes, disruptions in society cause an orthodoxy to lose traction. Consumers begin searching for alternatives, which opens up an opportunity for innovative brands to push forward a new ideology in their categories.” - Douglas Holt, Harvard Business Review
That’s fancy talk for, “use whatever is currently going on to help make your point more relevant.”
That’s why I’m going to give you my humble advice on how we can best approach 2024 and the unique challenges it presents. Not quite as catchy as Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, here are my 21 Habits for the 7 Trends of 2024!
1 - Distractions will continue to rise, while attention spans decline.
The average attention span of a human has decreased from 12 seconds to 8.25 seconds over the past two decades, which is now less than a goldfish, whose attention span is 9 seconds.
“...multitasking, when you keep switching your attention among different activities, people make more errors. And that's been shown in studies in the real world with physicians, nurses, pilots. We also know that performance slows. Why? Because there's something called a switch cost. So every time you switch your attention, you have to reorient to that new activity, that new thing you're paying attention to, and it takes a little bit of time.” - Dr. Gloria Mark, a psychologist and the chancellor's professor of informatics at the University of California Irvine
3 Habits to arrest distractions:
Start with your phone. I recommend extending that invisible tether. Start small by not taking your phone with you to the toilet. (GASP!) Next, maybe you leave it in the kitchen while you work around the house. Eventually, maybe you’ll leave it at home when you run an errand.
One more thing about the phone. If you’re having a conversation with people, keep your phone hidden away, not out on the table for all to see. Keith Ferrazzi recommends don’t even put it face down, that’s not better.
Read a long-form article or book. Force yourself to read something of several pages. I like to flip through magazines but I will intentionally pick out the most appealing article and take the time to read it all.
We have to actively work on expanding our attention span if we don’t want it to shrink.
2 - Technologies will advance at a faster clip.
Cloud computing and 5G seem so yesterday. Everything is gonna be AI, including my toaster. In fact, getting versed in AI is on my list of goals this year. My gut tells me if we don’t get up to speed, we’ll end up like our parents asking what is email.
3 Habits to befriend AI:
Use the OG AI, chatGPT. Very simple to create an account, and then ask it questions. I asked it for book recommendations to learn more about AI, here’s what it said.
Use a specific form of AI for more specific tasks.
AI Dungeon, pretty awesome choose-your-own-adventure where you direct and play the game.
Character.AI, what if you fav fictional character was a real person and you could have a convo with them.
Lex, the next evolution of Word or Doc, it’s pretty snazzy.
Do a deep dive into the technology or the ethics around it. If you can trust AI’s recommendation on what to read to learn about the ethics of AI, chat GPT suggests Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark, which explores the ethical and existential questions raised by AI, including generative models.
3 - Global warming affects our lives in more ways.
Doesn’t matter if you believe in it, it believes in you… and it’ll affect you one way or another. As businesses change their models to become more sustainable and weather patterns change, be like water and learn to flow with it.
3 Habits to adapt to our environment:
Gamify how much little trash you generate. Notice how often you take out the trash and how quickly you fill your garbage can. Now find ways to reduce it, such as bringing your reusable cup to Starbucks, your tupperware to restaurants, and declining plastic bags and plasticware. Bonus, fewer trips to the garbage bin!
Contemplate where you may want to retire. As a general rule, people will need to move away from the equator, and from coastlines, small islands (which will shrink in size), and arid or desert regions. Rainforests and woodlands are also places to avoid, due to fire risk. Populations are going to shift inland, towards lakes, higher elevations and northern latitudes.
4 - Forging deep connections gets tougher.
Studies show loneliness is rising, while, ironically, more apps are available to help combat it. The United States even published a report in 2023, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.”
3 Habits that create deep relationships:
Make one-on-one plans with someone you enjoy having a conversation with. Don’t go too long between chats.
Send a text to someone expressing what they mean to you. Yeah, it’ll be weird but it’ll also bring them a smile and make moments of vulnerability easier.
Declutter your life - your inbox, your phone apps, your social circle. Prune away the unnecessary.
5 - Getting out in nature remains rare.
One-third of the world’s population cannot see the Milky Way, and a whopping 80% of people in the United States can’t. Simply put, humanity’s ability to connect to nature is getting harder.
3 Habits to be with nature:
Start small, with each day a walk about your house or block, no headphones. Heck, a “study found that listening to short — just six-minute — audio clips of birdsong could reduce feelings of anxiety, depression and paranoia in healthy participants.”
Called ‘earthing’ or ‘grounding,’ walk barefoot outside on natural surfaces. This one sounds hippie to me, but it’s so easy that I’m willing to give it a try. There’s a claim that walking barefoot will improve your eyesight. No scientific evidence, just mystical energies.
Prioritize natural landscapes in your travel plans. In other words, instead of just visiting the touristy major cities, add an excursion to the natural wonders that only that region offers.
6 - Sitting remains an epidemic.
Humanity went from hunter-gatherers, to agricultural, and now to cubicles. Our human body hasn’t evolved to keep up with this new lifestyle.
3 Habits to tune-up our bodies:
Pushups. Perhaps the perfect workout that can be done anywhere, just make sure you maintain great form to get the most out of it.
Rucking, aka walking with a heavy backpack. Prep a backpack with some books or bottles of water to weigh it down and station it by the door. Next time you go for a walk, just toss it on.
Purchase a wearable and make use of the extensive data. Fight technology with technology!
7 - Misinformation is on the rise.
Not just politics and news info, but even more subtle aspects such as the news you get from your social feed (don’t forget, influencers need to be provocative to be relevant) and even the output from AI, which could be biased based on their source data.
3 Habits to get to the truth:
Use a grading scale, the more important the information, the more you should research and cross-check it. The less impactful, just go with it. For example, Mens Health recently said a new trend is guys who want big butts. No need to cross-check that because it’s just hilarious.
Get several credible sources before you believe it, much less spread the news to others. The keyword is credible.
Doubt yourself in humble ways. Like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, maybe you can’t handle the truth. So you need to cultivate a mindset that’s open to the possibility that you’re wrong more often than you think. What would a world in which you’re wrong more often look like?
TAKEAWAY
There you have it, 21 habits across 7 themes for 2024. Obviously, you can’t do them all, so pick the one you like the most and make small changes.
(other thoughts on 2024 trends)
➩ 12 emerging trends for 2024: What’s ahead for psychologists in the coming year?
➩ What matters most? Eight CEO priorities for 2024
➩ Shape Magazine’s The Biggest Wellness Trends for 2024, As Predicted By Experts
SOME HUMOR
