Six Rules the Army Taught Me About Building Positive Habits.
How I applied lessons from my routine as a cadet to develop positive habits.
Back in the cadet days, our daily routine ran on all cylinders.
A normal day would comprise morning muster, physical training sessions, parade, classes, games, study periods, order fall-ins, more physical training sessions, dress inspections, and whatnot. In the initial months, the routine itself felt like a punishment.
After the initial months had passed, I learnt to adjust to the routine. I became more efficient and more organized. The routine was still the same, but it was no longer scary.
The once scary routine had now become a habit.
These rules about habit forming that worked for me then, continue to work even today. I applied them successfully last year to build a study routine for my advanced degree exams, which helped me study for 15 hours every day for 100-plus days, and eventually get the college of my choice.
Action Beats Procrastination
The idea of becoming a writer had always been in my mind. I started a blog in 2021, only to discontinue it after a year, as I was too busy with my 9–5.
Even before starting my writing journey on Medium last month, it took me nearly two months to decide whether to start a blog, be a content creator, or become a writer on Medium. I was procrastinating for too long before I realised that rather than choosing where to write, it was more important to write.
Not writing enough was one of my biggest mistakes last time as well as I was expecting to see results only after writing 10 articles in my blog.
Just writing often has made me realise that acting is more important than just intending.
Two Heads are Better than one
While preparing for my advanced degree exams, there were three of us studying in a group.
All of us had our strengths and weaknesses. We held group discussions and helped each other clarify our doubts. We could also put in additional hours at night, as the entire process of studying was becoming more enjoyable and the progress made was very motivating for us.
The vast syllabus which would appear insurmountable to any individual, was made easier due to our combined efforts.
Routine breeds mastery
Every day at 0630 pm, throughout our entire training period of four years, we would put on our Muftis and sit down for the study period. It was ensured that the study period would be strictly observed till 0830 pm.
It was only last year when I was preparing for the exams, did I realise that out of all the study sessions, that is morning, afternoon, evening, and late night, the most productive session was between 0630–0830 pm. This had only happened because every day for four years, I had used this time to focus my mind on books. It was my ‘prime time’ for studies.
I always dedicated this session to the more important subjects, to get the most out of them.
Progress paves the road
Whenever you start building a habit at first, it seems very difficult to achieve. This is because initially, the progress is negligible. As and when you start putting in hours, you start seeing progress.
Many distractions come along the way. If you want to develop a habit of waking up early morning, the distractions could be in the form of a late-night movie, a heavy dinner, or a night out with your pals. All these distractions can hinder your progress.
It’s worth noting that quick progress does not mean that it will be easier to develop the habit. One could risk losing interest in the activity and might not end up developing it as a habit.
With progress, habit formation also needs a fair amount of challenge quotient and an adequate time to develop.
Habit formation= progress quotient x challenge quotient x time spent on habit
Flexibility is Longevity
When it comes to practising habit formation, it’s difficult to be consistent. Following a routine is difficult, especially when you are a working individual with kids at home. Your daily routine can be insanely dynamic at times.
In that situation, having flexibility can be useful. I was posted in a peaceful location where I was working on developing reading every morning as a habit. I could pursue the habit for 2 years but as soon as I got posted to the field, I started staying busy in the mornings and got free time only after lunch. This was when I shifted my book-reading habit between lunch and my afternoon nap.
Only because I was flexible could I maintain the habit for a long time.
Updating is Engaging
Being consistent and striving to develop and adjust a positive habit in your routine is one of the aspects of habit formation. However, it's crucial that you continuously engage with your new habit.
Say for example, if you are developing a habit of journalling, jotting down your thoughts on paper is okay, but the activity itself will become monotonous after some time.
For you to continue following a habit, you must be continuously using new means to excite yourself about doing that activity. As for journalling, you can experiment between visual journalling, gratitude journalling, dream journalling, and many other forms of journalling.
This will increase your time, challenge as well as progress quotient and lead to solid habit formation.
Conclusion
Positive habits are harder to develop than negative habits. It's because, unlike positive habits, negative habits offer immediate gratification, suffer from peer pressure, and often hijack the brain reward system very quickly.
To develop a strong and sustainable positive habit, one needs to
- Beat procrastination and take action, albeit baby steps.
- Engage in habit formation as part of a group.
- Follow a set time to practice a habit, as far as possible.
- Measure progress during habit formation.
- Be flexible to ensure maintaining the habit for a long time.
- keep yourself updated about your habits.
Happy Learnings !!
