Habit Formation

"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve."- Charlie Munger

Habit formation is difficult. Period. Taking a leaf out of James Clear's methods of habit formation, every habit requires a cue or a hook. I want to use this post to reflect on one habit that I have been able to build. I do not want to use any framework to come up with the factors that led me to build the habit to ensure I do not bias my own thought process.

Waking up Early: This has been easily the toughest battle to win. The only time I used to wake up early was during the IITJEE preparation days when the passion to succeed was huge, need for validation from peers/relatives and the supposed promise of reward was extremely exciting for a young mind. Post the exams till very recently, I was never able to wake up early. Even the birth of my kid did not push me hard enough. Sure, I used to wake up once in a while when it was extremely urgent but it was far from habit formation. All advices like sleeping early, cutting down on late night binge eatching, etc went in vain. The below interventions have helped me immensely.

1. Badmintion: From the past 1 year, I have been playing badmintion in the early mornings. This is an activity which I really enjoy. I also pledge my presence a night before and we all book a court in advance. Missing the game is a matter of great disappointment and embarassment. The presence of this activity has ensured that whenever it is planned in the morning, I am able to wake up. I have tried replacing this with early morning walks or exercise and found myself less motivated to do that regularly. This is coming from someone who has tried his utmost to build this habit. Somehow, for a habit which is as tough as waking early for some folks who generally tend to binge watch late in the nights, the excitement for the morning activity has to be greater than the in built inertia. Lesson: Genuine Passion/Excitement + Defined Rules leads to habit formation
2. Finding work that is exciting: This one is a no-brainer but having been part of stints where I have absolutely hated my work vs. loved my work for most of the time, I can safely recall the difference. Going to work everyday is an important cue for waking up early. If you are unexcited about your work, eventually you will tire off and return to an older routine when you jyst went to work for ghe sake of the paycheck. Lesson: Excitement about the activities for the major part of the day which includes your daily work
3. Intermittent Fasting: Eating early and giving the body enough time for digestion helps in waking up early and also feeling more energetic. This is one intervention which has impacted my overall energy levels, concentration levels health and immunity. From an understanding point of view, I feel Janardhanan's lecture is one of the best on the topic.

The above interventions are general advice which are known to almost everyone. Howver, even though they might sound simple, they are not easy. The biggest challenge is to find these cues or triggers as they need to have enough impact to break your inertia of holding on to your existing habit. These triggers need to excite one for a long stretch of time to ensure that habits are formed. Another myth that I have found is the 21 day rule. During the past 1 year, I have observed that absense of the above triggers have resulted in me going back to my older habits.