Getting into Habits

I started with the habit of reading. It was more of a new year’s resolution. It was difficult at first, trying to read everyday. My plan initially was to read atleast one chapter a day. I knew I wouldn’t be able to maintain this habit, but I was really really determined to complete atleast one book a month. It’s May now, and I think my determination paid off. I’ve so far read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in January, Animal Farm by George Orwell in February, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki in March and Storm in a Teacup by Helen Czerski in April. Currently, my book for May is Atomic Habits by James Clear and I must say, it is a book I am enjoying a lot. It has really helped me plan my habits better.

For instance, another resolution that I planned for this year was to learn more languages, something I haven’t found quite success in yet. After reading his advice on “Habit Stacking”, I decided to stack my reading and language learning “habit” (I call this a habit, because it is a habit I want to develop) with my habit of always drinking tea from between 5 to 6 pm in the evening. Now I know this will work because I unintentionally developed the habit of watering my plants as soon as I finsih my breakfast in the morning. I earlier used to set reminders on all my devices to water my plants at 3pm in the afternoon (weird time I know) but after some advice from my girlfriend, I started watering them in the morning, which resulted with me automatically developing this habit.

Today, the 5th of May 2021, I planned to do push-ups and pull-ups everyday before I have a bath in evening. I plan to develop this habit, and I am really curious to see how this works out. I’ve considered the environment and the timing, so it’s going to be an experiment that’s really fascinating.