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Building a habit requires following a series of smaller steps. The tough part is fitting these steps into your busy life. It is difficult for mountain athletes to find the time outside of their longer workouts, family priorities, and job responsibilities, but with these simple tricks, you can quickly improve by 1 percent—every day. One of my favorite “habit” bloggers is James Clear. His newest book, Atomic Habits, will get you started on creating your path more clearly. His “1 percent better” rule, detailed in the book, is about becoming 1 percent better every day. Think of all of the little things you could get 1 percent better at. That’s 365 percent better at something by the end of one year. Those are some pretty incredible numbers! I (Mercedes) have implemented some of Clear’s ideas in my own life over the past few years. Use these hacks to integrate his ideas into each day so that you can stay strong, eat well, and crush your athletic goals.

1. Develop a ritual to make starting easier. Habits take place day in and day out. They are also “started” day in and day out. You don’t have to think about starting to brush your teeth or starting to make coffee—you just do it. But for a new habit, it’s the starting that makes it challenging. There are two ways to start a ritual. The first way is to stack your eating or exercise habit on top of a current habit. Stacking an eating habit on top of a current habit means telling yourself, After/Before [current habit], I will [new habit]. For example, “After I brew my morning coffee, I will prepare my vegetables for the day.” Or “Before I go to bed, I will sip on some herbal tea to calm my nervous system so I can get the best sleep.” It’s a great system to fit some of your new strategies into the day. This method is useful because you already have one habit dialed and you are linking your new habit to it.

The second way to start a new habit is to set a schedule for yourself, like this: During the next week, I will [new habit] on [day] at [time of day] at/in [place]. Mercedes: My wife and I had to get into the habit of meal prepping. We decided that on Sunday mornings we would search for simple recipes, and then at around 12 p.m. we would shop. At 2 p.m., we would cook all the meals for the week. The duration of cooking time varies, but we try to keep it to three hours so we can chill for the rest of the evening. This works out great for us.

“Start with something that is so easy you can’t say no.” —Leo Babauta

2. Start with something that is ridiculously easy to accomplish. Mercedes: I love this advice; it takes the pressure off. When I’m doing nutrition coaching, this tactic is an integral part of changing how my clients eat. I have seen clients achieve a lot of success by using this simple strategy. For example, I want to improve my vegetable intake, so the goal is: “Every day for the next seven days, I will take a baggie of vegetables to work to snack on.” If you are looking to improve your eating habits or your health, choose only one thing at a time, and give it about two weeks to become a habit. Choose a new habit every two weeks to one month and see your health compound over the year. Maybe you have one shake each day to get in more protein, or perhaps you take five deep breaths before bedtime to boost your recovery, or maybe add five minutes of hangboard time every day to improve your climbing. Start simple!

3. Focus on the habit first and the results later. This strategy goes to the heart of the difference between grandiose goals and process goals. If you focus too much on the results that you ultimately hope to achieve, you probably won’t stick to the habit—usually because the “Ah, screw it” attitude comes in, also known as all-or-nothing thinking. In general, in the first few months it is more important not to skip your habits than it is to see progress. Consistency will eventually lead to improvement and success.

4. Plan for failure. I (Mercedes) have added this to James Clear’s list because it’s the one we thing we forget about. We all fail. Without this, though, we wouldn’t grow. When building a habit, it’s important to plan for failure, or at least leave room for things to go a different way. For example, if you know you are going to brunch with friends, either give yourself a break and tell yourself, “I’m okay with eating this and I will enjoy it,” or look at the menu ahead of time and decide what you can eat before you get there and cave because you’re too hungry to think about it. Planning ahead can keep you consistent or at least ease your guilt. And remember, you can always go right back to your habits if you have a “blip.”