builing habits together is more effective than doing it alone
04 Mar 2019i finally found it! i was inspired more than a year ago by james clear’s public pushup log but couldn’t find it again for months. i finally found it again the other day. it’s in this article and here’s the link to the spreadsheet itself.
why am i writing about this today? picking up on the trend noticed by gibrán, in the self-mastery discourse, there is an emphasis on the individual in the habit-building discourse. this is unsurprising given the hyper-individualistic society we live in.
but what i have found in my coaching and other work time and time again, is that interpersonal motivation is the best motivation. people build habits the most effectively when building them in partnership with one person or in a small group.
i’ve been the anchor support person for folks, doing things like daily or weekly check-ins by phone, text, or email. i’ve also created and co-created groups where a number of people who were looking to start a practice (most often writing) build that habit over the course of a month together.
slightly relevant quote:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. — will durant
i think it’s time to follow in clear’s footsteps and make my own public pushups sheet. i might invite some other folks into it to, but for different habits… hmmmm!
other relevant articles:
- Continuous Improvement: How It Works and How to Master It
- How to Start Working Out When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
words / writing / post-processing
207w / 10min / 3min