There are so many focus modes out there, one of the famous ones is monk mode, which focuses on building a specific routine for a period of time, preferably from 60 to 90 days.
Zest mode is no different in principle, but the framework is a bit different.
Zest mode is a term I came up with once I realized that I have really embarrassing progress when it comes to my sleep schedule.
I have already started the 365 challenge working on yoga, meditation and doing more pomodoro (5 minimum per day). Yet since this is a yearly challenge I couldn’t add the sleep routine into the that challenge, because for me a 365-day challenge is a yearly event that starts by the first of January.
Therefore, I spend some time thinking for a flexible solution that is tied to non-timing circumstances and more related to the actual problems one might have, thus zest mode came to existence.
So how exactly the zest mode work and how I think it would help me in fixing my sleep ? Or any other habit that I may not experience the progress I would have expected, in other words, boosting the habit.
Why it’s called ZEST MODE?
There is a very good definition of the word zest from vocabulary.com:
Zest is a kind of zeal or enthusiasm. If you’ve got a zest for something, you put your whole heart and soul into it. Dancers who have great zest leap, kick, and soar their way around the stage with a kind of joyful energy.
So Zest Mode is about getting into an aura of enthusiasm for execution of a certain habit, in such a way that it fuels you with enough energy to fully engage in the habit and complete it without feeling like it’s a chore, because you are pumped enough to the point of not feeling any resistance against doing it.
That sounds nice and everything, but how can one use zest mode.
There are Five elements of Zest Mode shown in the illustration below:
Making The Habit Plan
The habit plan is picking which habit you want to work on, and define a clear goal you want to achieve.
A bad plan would be deciding a goal that is too generic that makes you not ready to commit to it.
Examples of a bad & good habits goals:
| Bad Example | I want to read for 90 days |
| Good Example | I want to spend 30 minutes each day for 90 days which should be enough to finish three books which are X, Y and Z. |
Writing The Habit Statement
It is about having a strong why of doing a habit, I won’t get into a lot of details about habit statements, since it’s one of the habits I am doing these days and I will dedicate an entire article going in depth of how to develop it.
As for now, know that a habit statement is a sentence that captures the reason of doing a habit.
For example, my reading habit statement is:
Reading for building vocabulary, gaining knowledge and strengthening the bond with myself and people and truth.
Upon reading This statement it reminds me why I am reading, it should make me convinced that that is reason moves both my intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
By Intrinsic I mean, enjoying the process of doing the habit for example, being immersed in reading from start to finish, or at least you feel that you are in the zone engaged fully with the activity.
As for the extrinsic part, what is exactly you try to gain from the activity? You are supposed to have the answer once you write your habit statement, which is about the outcome and the expectations you want to get from doing your habit.
Now to strengthen such feeling we need to move to the next step.
Incorporate the Role Model Spirit
Working on the habit of running? Then summon Eliud Kipchoge to your mind, and imagine yourself being him, now if your habit is about running 15 minutes a day, and you feel resistance when it comes to doing your habit today, taking the role of Eliud Kipchoge it would feel quite of lowering your standards to be able to do something as easy as running for 15 minutes, right?
Again the role model has to be an expert in the habit you are building, here are some examples:
- Nonfiction writing = Yuval Noah Harari
- Fantasy writing = George R. R. Martin
- Mastering piano = Mozart
- Becoming a great engineering = Nikola Tesla
- Sleep schedule = Matthew Walker
- Walking = Ffyona Campbell
- Yoga = Rodney Yee
There are so many great role models out there, you should be ready to pick the one who are aligned with your values and world-views, because I don’t want you pick up the wrong role model to attach it to the habit and end up having a permanent association which can only ruin the habit itself, therefore, it’s imperative for you to do your own research, take time, this step is more important than the previous one.
The next crucial step we should do before entering the zest mode, it’s commitment.
Signing the commitment contract
What is commitment? In the simplest words, it’s a mental decision to give your time, energy and resources to accomplish something, this thing can have an end deadline, or in some cases for a lifetime.
We are living in an era, to what Zygmunt Bauman the Polish Philosopher call liquid modernity, it’s a state where we don’t commit to anything (work, place or even relationships) we leave ourselves open to any form of experience that arises or some desire that born, that’s the ability to pick anything that comes our way, such mindset can be helpful in cases, but not when It comes to building habits.
That is the way it’s important to shift to the commitment mindset.
For commitment to work you should know what are you committing yourself to, in our case, we already defined the habit plan, the habit statement and the role model who is supposed to inspire us to get work done!
So you should take a piece of paper, and write your commitment, it can be something like this,
Notice that we included a punishment system in our commitment, why? Because according to a study, we fear losing more than we fear not winning. In this study apes are given two apples with the chance of 50% of taking one away, and in the second case there is only one apple given, but there is 50% chance that one should be added, ending up with two apples.
Surprisingly, apes chose the second case, because getting one extra apple feels nice compared to having the knowledge that you only might eat two apples but only half of the times. On the light of this information, I think we can say it’s motivating to achieve our goal of Zest Mode without losing.
And one more thing when it comes to the punishment, if it’s about money (which probably the most useful punishment out there) make sure that you give it to someone or anorganization you don’t want your money to end up there, that makes the punishment more effective.
Now we move to the last element, the execution part.
Execute, Document and repeat
Let’s say my Zest mode of reading should start the 30th of January 2024, by that date, you should go through this following points:
- reading the habit plan (30 sec)
- Read the habit statement (30 sec)
- Picturing myself being the role model and live it with all the emotion (30 sec)
- Reading the commitment contract (30 sec)
- Execute the reading habit, check the habit off on a journal or a habit tracker, then wait for the next day to repeat the steps 1-5 till you complete the Zest Mode.
Wrapping up
To recap, In the Zest mode, you commit to do your habit for a fixed duration, i.e. you have both a starting and final date.
Once you pick the duration, let’s say 90 days.
You write a habit statement, and pick the role model that inspire you to take action.
You take a piece of paper, physical planner, or even the digital one, the choice is yours, what matters is that you declare your willingness to do the habit.
Make sure that you include what type of punishment you might get if you decide to drop the zest mode, for example you would be forced to donate half of the monthly salary for your favourite non-profit organization (one time only).
Then you leave your signature on the paper. (Digital one if you wrote it on your devices)
Now once you are ready to go, make sure that every day you read the habit plan and the habit statement, bring the role model identity, like those heroes who are prepared to do their duties.
Your duties aren’t something you feel bored about doing, nope, the zest mode should pump you up and drives you to execute the habit.
As you have seen the framework is pretty simple, it might take one hour or two to set up the zest mode, 2 minutes every day to execute and by doing that, it should give you enough clarity and commitment to produce the changes you’ve been craving to see.
Before closing up, one last question that might come to your mind, should I continue the habit after I complete the Zest mode? Personally, I intend to use the Zest mode to boost my progress and stick to either a new habit or a habit I am struggling with, so once I complete the Zest mode I continue the habit in the normal mode alongside the other habits I am currently doing.
When it comes to you, it’s up to you, do what makes you feel proud of yourself.
The practical exercise for this article, is you pick one habit, go through the 5 elements of zest mode then start your challenge.
Got any questions? Please leave us a comment below.
Wish you the best luck in your habits building journey!
