The compounding of habits

Authors Note: This post was edited on 2022-11-27, cleaning up some sentences and changing the title from the pretentious and nonsensical “Habits: You are what you do” to “The compounding of habits”.

At some point in our lives, we are forced to face one simple truth - the time we have on this earth is valuable and finite. Not a single person so far was documented to live forever - the best offer I’ve seen only applies after we die.

It’s a realization we come to terms with many times as we age. Every moment begins to count. We understand it becomes necessary to use our time wisely and deliberately if we wish to better ourselves. Be healthier. Go out. Consume less and create more. Floss.

But decisions are hard. Sticking to decisions is harder. Some goals are impossible to reach fast and easy, by just making one decision. They demand consistently making the right decision. That’s where habits come in.

Habits Stack Up

I drink 2 to 4 coffees a day, and I have been doing so for a couple of years. Nothing unusual - one or two shots each morning and one in the afternoon after lunch. Napkin math says I’ve guzzled down somewhere between 700 and 1200 coffees in the past year. That’s starting to sound impressive.

A shot of espresso contains anywhere between 25mg to 214mg of caffeine. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say it contains 100mg. Drinking a 1000 espressos contains a 100g of caffeine. That’s about 10 lethal doses. Over the time of one year I’ve consumed enough coffee to kill two to three nuclear families. Doing something small every day can have big results over a long period of time.

  • Five hundred push-ups.
  • A hundred books read.
  • A thousand hours of piano practice.

All things that sound daunting, yet achievable - a rep, page, or espresso at a time.

Habits Short-circuit Decisions

Doing anything out of the ordinary requires effort. I want to be healthier - that’s a decision. I’ll eat salad for lunch two times a week, a nice small start - another one. On Tuesdays and Saturdays you will make the hardest decisions yet - will I order a salad, or a pizza?

On the other hand, habits are just things you do without giving them much thought. You have dinner and watch TV. You brush your teeth before bedtime. You walk your dog, go for a jog, make coffee and have breakfast in the same order most mornings. You’re used to it. That’s just how you roll.

You don’t need to make a decision to drink coffee this morning. The whole 7 minutes it took you from bed to coffee the conscious part of you was doing other stuff. It’s easy and it feels good. The thing is - you didn’t make that decision right now. You were there for the ride. There aren’t many occasions a person just sits down and takes a few minutes to weigh the pros and cons of making a coffee. You’ve chosen what to do a long time ago, the moment you’ve acquired the habit.

Wrap-up

  • Often we find ourselves in need of bettering our lives. To do so requires achieving goals by taking decisive action.
  • Some of these goals - like eating healthier, quitting coffee or getting good at the piano - aren’t driven by one big decision, but rather by consistently committing to lot of small ones.
  • Your past self takes part in making certain decisions for the current you through your habits.
  • Repeating a habit is easier than acting against it.