Chapters 1-3:

Habit, noun: a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. Habits are little actions that define how we go about our day. Habits can be small things like brushing your teeth in the morning, or big things like training for a marathon. Unless you’re living under a rock, I assume that you already knew what a habit was. So what is MY definition of a habit? A habit isn’t necessarily just a practice that you do everyday. It has to be something you build up over time through repetition. It becomes almost instinctive and you shouldn’t have to force yourself to do it. Habits don’t necessarily have to be good. Bad habits are built up in a similar manner to good habits. Repetition of a specific action over and over again makes even small things become impulsive and over time these small habits can contribute towards a goal. This is a definition that I have developed by reading the book atomic habits which I discussed in a previous learning intention blog post. I have also expanded my knowledge on habits by experiencing what works for me and what supports my values and goals.

Chapter Reflection:

Each week, our class is assigned chapters that we need to complete by the end of a certain deadline. We have to write a journal entry where we answer prompts and comprehension questions concerning the content in Atomic Habits. The questions I chose to address, reflect how these habits matter to my daily routine and how I will use these habits to improve.

Think about one habit (good or bad) that’s part of your daily routine:

Every day before I leave for school, I scroll through social media. It’s become such a normal routine for me that I set aside tasks I need to complete, like brushing my teeth or eating a healthy breakfast, in order to spend a few minutes on my phone. This leads to me being late every time. Scrolling on my phone triggers a cycle of dopamine release in my brain’s reward pathway, creating a pleasurable feeling that encourages more scrolling. This becomes a cycle: the more time you spend on your phone, the more your body craves that quick dopamine release. The time I spend on my phone takes away from who I want to be. I should be using that time to prepare for school or do something productive. Excessive phone use lowers my attention span and diminishes my critical thinking. This relates to my VMV because critical thinking is a core competency that I said I would work on. The time I spend scrolling is taking away not just from my morning routine, but also from the learning goals I set at the beginning of the year.

Based on what you’ve read so far, what do you think is the hardest part of building better habits — and why?

I believe that the most difficult part of the process of building habits is my reliance on my bad habits. No matter how hard I try to quit them, they’ve just become such a critical part of my routine. Habits like scrolling on my phone and procrastination take time away from my good habits. When I eventually do those habits, I feel less compelled and motivated to engage in them with pride. It begins to feel like a repetitive chore that I want to be done with. I often rely on sudden boosts of motivation for one of my habits. For example, I might watch a motivational video and then work out as hard as I can, or I will play soccer for hours. This approach is actually a negative way to tackle my habits because instead of just doing 1% more, I do 100% more all at once, which tires me out. My inconsistent habits cause me to be less productive. The hardest part is doing a little more every day and staying consistent with it.
Staying committed to my goals even when I don’t see any success can certainly be frustrating as well. I train hard throughout the week and if I don’t preform well on match day, I get very discouraged. Or, if I give everything in team training but my performance in games falls short, it can feel like all my hard work isn’t paying off. But I know through my previous successes, that winning takes time and isn’t built overnight. It’s stacked up from hours of hard training and people only recognize your accomplishments when you succeed in front of them. As the diagram depicts, it’s not gradual success, it’s one big defining moment that can only happen if you put in the work.

Chapters 4-10:

Understanding the big ideas:

James Clear has created a comprehensive guide on how to build habits. He uses laws, steps, and concepts to support his points and provide readers with a clear path for developing their own habits. In chapters 4-10, Clear discusses the four laws of Behavior Change: Make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying.

What do these laws mean and how can I define them? First, let’s talk about making it obvious. Making it obvious means that you must clearly define your goal, identify the old habits you want to change, and outline how you will reach the person you wish to become. You can use strategies such as implementation intentions and habit stacking to make your goals clear.

Now onto the second law: making it attractive. This means making the habit almost irresistible. Not only should it be a key part of your daily routine, but you should also enjoy doing it. You can make habits more attractive by associating a reward with them. For example, if I study for an hour, I can reward myself by playing a video game afterward. This creates a positive association in your brain between doing homework and having fun.

Making it easy means reducing the effort required to perform your good habits while making it harder to engage in your bad habits. An example of this could be gradually easing yourself into a new habit. If you decide to become a vegetarian and eliminate all meat from your diet on the first day, it will be much harder to stick with that habit. However, if you gradually reduce the amount of meat you consume, it will feel much easier and more manageable.

Lastly, making it satisfying means creating instant rewards after completing your good habits, similar to the example I provided in the second law where you reward yourself for completing a positive action. Making it satisfying leads to immediate positive outcomes that reinforce the habit. Your goal should be to make the habit feel rewarding right away instead of solely focusing on the long-term benefits, which can sometimes lead to feelings of discouragement.

Applying to my personal life:

What’s something you currently rely on “motivation” for that could instead be improved by changing your environment or routine? I believe there are two kinds of motivation: one that you create yourself and one that comes from external sources, such as a motivational video. Motivation can be both beneficial and detrimental. If you only rely on motivation to get things done, you won’t be very productive. However, if you take advantage of the moments when motivation does arise while still being productive, it will help you be more successful in completing your habits.

One area where I rely on motivation is getting out of bed. As simple as it sounds, I have to hype myself up just to prepare for the day. Another aspect of my life where I depend on motivation is working out. To get out and head to the gym, I often have to watch a few motivational reels on Instagram. This negatively impacts me because I find myself relying on an external source to complete even simple tasks, which weakens my mental state and willpower. I could change my environment to stop depending on motivation by forcing myself to be self-motivated and to do things according to my own agenda. Another way to accomplish activities is by doing them with someone else; this way, we can hold each other accountable.