I was completely ignorant to the power of habit, and spent my life internalizing the idea that willpower was the key to anything I did. The idea of habit seemed ridiculous, something reserved for the army. I thought that anyone with a creative spirit is held back by thinking of habits. I had that perception dashed when I read the book “The Power of Habit”, written by Charles Duhigg. My perception changed, and I saw habit not as an inhibitor, but as a powerful tool that allowed me to get in front of my creativity and make the most of it.
That was in 2013, and since then, I have made it a point to keep some part of my mind on habits. Like all exciting things, I started strong, creating a string of habits. Many things have changed over the year, as I don’t think I carried any of those habits on till today. Some have gone away and come back stronger than ever (this blog), and some have disappeared completely (I used to do push ups everyday – that died). With that said, I haven’t given the idea of habits a serious look since 2013, and I think it is the perfect time to make it a theme for the month of August.
What I Want To Explore:
- Checklists – I love the idea of checklists, and I made it a habit to put them all over my house (I have checklists in the bathroom and in the bedroom, along with my office). I haven’t made it a point, however, to investigate them fully, and I find myself wondering off the path sometimes. This topic will be fun to explore because since my checklists are everywhere, making myself a checklist maverick should improve all portions of my life.
- Management – I hardly ever come up with a process of adding and subtracting habits in my life. They seem to float in and out on a whim. I’ve experimented with the idea of a “habit day” before, but that didn’t stick. I would also like to take a look on how I deal with daily vs weekly habits, the alerts I use to remind me, and the time I deal with habits (Is it better to read during the day or at night?)
- Consistency – I don’t track my habits. What you don’t track, you can’t manage. I always find myself in the trap of patting myself on the back for doing a habit 4 out of 7 days, or remembering that I did the habit often when I only did it once of twice (I “remembered” writing in my 5 Minute Journal one week 5 times and I only did it two). I will be investigating tools that can help me with this.
Those are the big three topics that I want to hit, but with everything in life, things change with the minute. If you think you can help in any way, please reach out with suggestions through Twitter @TheHonorableAT or by engaging in the comment section below.
From the desk of Adam Thomas 