👋 Hey phi-lazy-phers
As we close out the year and welcome the next one, many folks use this time as an opportunity to reset, attempting to make changes in their lives through drastic resolutions or goals. I’m sure you don’t need to be reminded of how difficult it is to sustain these massive changes, so let’s instead talk about the philosophical benefits of developing small, maintainable habits that compound over time. With these, you can create significant changes over the long haul.
Before diving into any tips and tricks to create and maintain these habits, it’s important to remember it ultimately starts with discipline. Developing habits that lead to change is a daily decision. As Seneca once said, “Count each separate day as a separate life.” So yes, use this new year as a time to reset, but remember it’s possible to choose that same mindset each and every day.
F.M. Alexander
People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.
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James Clear
This is the secret to self-control. Make the cues of your good habits obvious and the cues of your bad habits invisible.
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Aristotle
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
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Elizabeth King
Process saves us from the poverty of our intentions.
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Lao Tzu
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
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Ralph W. Trine
Have you ever fully realized that life is, after all, merely a series of habits, and that it lies entirely within one's own power to determine just what that series shall be?
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Simone de Beauvoir
Habit has a kind of poetry.
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W.H. Auden
Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.
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Shawn Achor
Habits are like financial capital – forming one today is an investment that will automatically give out returns for years to come.
Even though habits come down to discipline, there are certain things we can do to give ourselves a fighting chance. Two of my favorite habit-maintaining ideas come from James Clear’s Atomic Habits. Crafting Your Identity & Designing Your Environment.
Rather than fixating on resolutions, Clear suggests focusing on the identity we want to build for ourselves. As he puts it: “Improvements are only temporary until they become part of who you are. The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader. The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner. The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a musician.” If you begin to identify as a reader rather than someone who wants to read more, you’ll start asking, “what might a reader do right now?” Instead of putting some chore off, you decide a reader might do it now so they have more time tonight to read.
Thinking this way pairs well with Environment Design. How can you design your space to assist in crafting your identity? Continuing with the reader example, you might place the book(s) you’re currently reading on your coffee table and move the TV remote inside a cabinet. This way, when sitting down on the couch, it’ll be slightly easier to read than it would be to turn on the TV.
I’ll leave you with one final thought on being the architect of your environment and—ultimately—your life going into the new year:
James Clear
Most people live in a world others have created for them. Be the designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it.
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✌️ Until next week, happy philosophizing.
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