Charlie Puth giving me clean teeth
#48 - school is back, and a 1 year anniversary for TSO!
Hi there
The first week of school has been superb and the structure of lessons, travel and inevitable busyness compared to the summer means last week’s post seems like a year ago. Hope the start of the year has tasted well for you as well (it certainly did for me with a creamy corn pasta whipped up the day before… 😁)
Highlight of the week: getting to come home early for the first time on Tuesday. With only 4 subjects taking up slots in the timetable, I’ve got a couple of early finishes chances to do ‘Home Study’. I will make sure I use this time wisely, I hope.
I saw the orthodontist last Friday. Like an excited child who couldn’t wait to show off his artwork to his class teacher, I was eager to see what she thought of my teeth, after deeming them “poor” last time. As I’d hoped, she was impressed and said that there was a great improvement 👍.
The secret to success? Two things: better brushing technique, taking 5 minutes every night and listening to music.
Let me explain. Back again is James Clear’s masterpiece of building and breaking habits, Atomic Habits.
Every night, I would don my headphones, pick one of my Spotify playlists (I’ve discovered some top songs this way), put it so I can see the phone screen and brush away, occasionally throwing a little jig and rock with the legs as well. I used the app to measure the 5 seconds on each tooth, and before I know it, I’m done, 2 songs in.
The science is a combination of strategies James proposes:
Temptation bundling - pairing up something you want to do with something you need to do - a bit like eating the orange and then the ice cream. Also known in psychology as Premack’s Principle, putting them together means you will make sure to do the habit-creating activity and enjoy the process with a ‘reward’ of sorts.
Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. It is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it. It’s this anticipation - not the fulfillment of it - that makes us take action e.g. Christmas presents.
Create a motivation ritual - very similar, forming another part of Rule #2 of the book’s Four Laws of Behavior Change, Make It Attractive. You try to reframe the action by being the benefit you get. For me, these were 2 things: clean teeth and getting to hear Ed Sheeran’s hits for the 298th time.
Habits are all about assocations. These associations determine whether we predict a habit to be worth repeating or not - whether they bring positive feelings.
The cause of your habits is actually the prediction that preceds them from a cue. The prediction causes feelings and emotions, powerful enough to transform the cues we perceive and the predictions we make into a signal we can apply.
Use reinforcement - tying your habit to an immediate reward, so you instantly make your mind happy and satisfied (the 4th Law). This forms the basis of the ‘Cardinal Rule of Behaviour Change’ - What is rewarded is repeated, what is punished is avoided. Because I got to listen to music, I enjoyed the process1 of brushing my teeth and the clean healthy teeth turned out to be a by-product. Now, as Clear notes,
Eventually intrinsic rewards like a better mood kick in. You become less concerned with chasing the secondary reward. You do it because it’s who you are and it’s good to be you - it’s your identity
We are more likely to repeat a behaviour when the experiene is satisfying. Feelings of pleasure…are signals that tell the brain: “This feels good. Do this again, next time” Pleasure teachers you brain that a behaviour is worth remembering. (Jay Shetty has spoken about this)
Design your environment - it’s fourth for a reason but having my headphones easily accessible got me over the hurdle of laziness a couple of times.
The challenge, and more important part now, is to keep it going, now that I’ve put the hard yards in. This is tricker now since the mind realises2 that it won't be praised that much next time, showing how a form of extrinsic motivation is regard and respect from a higher authority.
Anyways, hope that’s helped. As I’ve said many times, his book is highly worth your time. Do share any habits you’ve been building and what’s worked by hitting ‘Reply’ or even commenting using the buttons at the end 🙂
It’s not always easy to do things that are good for you just for their own sake. You’ve got to play with the mind, try deceiving it. But deceit doesn’t have to be dirty, it can be clever and most importantly good for you. These clever ideas help us on our journey to work with, not against, our minds for greater success and a better life.
Book of the week 📖
More than halfway now with How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Really enjoying the book, bursting with real-life examples of what he talks about which I can a) skim over at a greater pace and b) find surprising. Earlier bedtimes brought along with school nights have set up the chances to read (more).
Podcast of the week🎙️
The Art of Manliness: #738: The Character Traits That Drive Optimal Performance
I’ve not been listening to as much but here’s a great one illuminating the difference between skills and attributes (what companies call ‘soft skills’) and a deep study into specific benchmarks we can improve on. Found it thoroughly fascinating and want to read his book at some point.
Article of the week📰
What went right this week: the ‘historic’ US climate bill, plus more - week 32 of 2022
Was introduced to this exceptional site and newsletter by Ali Abdaal earlier this year. Injecting you with a weekly dose of positive energy and stories of progress (doesn’t that sound familiar? 😉), here’s one I saved a while back.
Quote of the week💬
Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express not to impress. Don't strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt.
Let’s get into good habits this week ahead, be it studying or health-wise.
Adi
The second time I’ve emboldened this, and I didn’t include the phrase intentionally both times. It is critical to enjoy the journey in anything we do, any goal we chase.
See how I speak about the mind in the 3rd person. It’s a technique I’ve seen dotted around articles, to separate ourselves from our thoughts. There’s even the suggestion of giving it a name. Not gone that mad yet.
A good read..shame more people don't see this