Doing It (Day 636)

Today's challenge is to build a positive habit.

This is the most motivating part of Stoicism.

“Adopt new habits ... Consolidate your principles by putting them into practice.” — Epictetus

It wasn’t just about knowing what the right thing was, it was about doing that thing daily.

I have built this daily blogging habit already--even though there are times I just put down placeholders and come back to it, especially when I am busy or stressed over higher priorities.

I have read a few habits books, and many of them are summarized in today's content on the challenge. But it can boil down to 3 essential steps:

1. Trigger: my trigger is to put a recurring meeting time on my calendar, so I block out time

2. Routine: my biggest enemy is distraction--I would do something else during the specified time--so tools like focusmate really help me to get into the "meeting mode" or "interview mode" where I will be only doing what I set out to do

3. Reward: reward makes this routine a pleasant one. My reward is quite simple: I create an item on my daily tasks, and the reward is checking off the item and having some accomplished tasks left on my calendar.

To complete this task, I have added one more positive habit: I blocked out an hour a day for learning--reading, watching wondrium courses, or listening to audiobooks.