31 August 1994 | Habit Formation
#memoriesfromdiaries 💕
[from my personal diary entry of 27 years ago] 😍
In this post, I intend to look at habit formation with the help of two main sources –
My past diary entry for this same day, that I’d written down during my HSC days!
and
James Clear’s Atomic Habits - an amazing book that I’ve so loved reading!
Well, all of us would have sure known about the three types of motivation!
1. Fear-based motivation
2. Incentive-based
motivation
3. Internal
[or intrinsic] motivation
James Clear gives much emphasis on the third type of motivation –
Intrinsic motivation!
Interestingly, the book is subtitled, ‘An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones’.
Says Clear, James Clear -
The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when –
a habit becomes part of your identity.
The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it.
For example -
If you’re proud of how your hair looks, you’ll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it.
If you’re proud of the size of your biceps, you’ll make sure you never skip an upper-body workout.
If you’re proud of the scarves you knit, you’ll be more likely to spend hours knitting each week.
Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.
True behaviour change is identity change.
You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.
Anyone can convince themselves to visit the gym or eat healthy once or twice, but if you don’t shift the belief behind the behaviour, then it is hard to stick with long-term changes.
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.
What inspiring lines from Clear – James Clear, ain’t it?
On a similar vein, thought of opening up for the first time, after 27 long years, with help from my past diary, on one interesting habit that I’ve cultivated, and that’s become part of my identity (as James Clear says!) - for more than three decades now –
- the habit of taking down notes!
Be it any talk or lecture or discourse or symposium!
If I am part of the event - rest assured - I’m sure bound to have a little note book and a pen, and you can find me taking down notes with the utmost attention and concentration!
I guess this habit was ingrained in us through our parents and all our teachers as well!
It was Appa who first gave me this idea – to take down notes from classes that I attended – just to make sure that I concentrate – and then to ‘report’ to him on that!
Thus started this habit, when I was in my tenth grade!
 |
| from my personal diary, 31 August 1994 |
There’s been no turning back ever since!
I’ve found that, taking down notes has not only helped me concentrate on the talk (or the lecture) but has also helped me recollect, reinforce and recall with double the fervour, on whatever has been written down – weeks, months and years from then on!
Coming back,
On this particular day, went for jogging at 5.35 am, followed by my coffee time!
Parthiban Sir (our warden) wrote down the names of hostelers who were late for their morning study time.
After cleaning up my cubicle, I headed straight for the morning Assembly, where our Headmaster shared an incident that was quite a thriller.
It seems, in the year 1958, when he was a young boy, playing with marbles near his house, he witnessed a murder opposite his house.
A 13-year old boy had given a false witness saying so-and-so had committed the murder, which then led to the conviction of an innocent person!
But later on, when he grew up, his conscience kept troubling him, and he couldn’t bear it any longer!
So he decided to go straight to the jail where the innocent person was incarcerated, and asked for his forgiveness from him!
So don’t do anything that your conscience doesn’t approve of, he said.
Coming back,
After reading the day’s newspaper, headed school-ward!
First hour we had PT!
Sitting under the shades of a beautiful gulmohar tree, in the little me-space, I was busy examining the eggs of a dead snail’s – something the size of our homeopathy tablets – little white balls in little clusters! 😍
Our English classes were those wonder-hours that we eagerly longed for!
And our jovial English Master never failed to enthrall us!
We had a mobile Higginbothams' bus visiting us in Campus today – a completely air-conditioned bus in which books were stacked up in such tempting ways!
Let me also confess on an aside that,
Two things that can tempt me much-o-much are – Books & Coffee!
So bought three lovely books at the mobile book store, coughing up all the pocket money I had saved over the last few weeks!
Night, after study time, played chess with the indefatigable Sunil, and as usual, I lost!
Sunil was an expert at the game you see, and there’s no stopping him!
Today was no exception! 🤗
PS: You may also want to read a little review of Clear - James Clear’s Atomic Habits on our past post HERE!
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