In my research into Dr. Angela Duckworth’s work on grit, she mentions another concept - a Growth Mindset, as opposed to one that focuses more on concrete, immediate successes.

It seems as though this project, which focuses on the cultivation of habit, is a good example of a Growth Mindset.

In 750 words, in the past I focused on writing the best I could - and in my own experience, and in many forums, I’ve learned that this is the wrong way to go about it. NaNoWriMo, a website dedicated to helping people write novels, was founded to combat this. The website offers a chance to write 50,000 words in the spirit of “literary abandon” - the object isn’t perfection, it’s getting through the word count - editing comes later.

In my theoretical topography of success, a habit comes first. If I make a solid habit of working out in the morning, even if it’s only doing a light workout, success - actually achieving the body I want - will come later.

I won’t necessarily achieve concrete success immediately or quickly. But it will come, especially in tasks like flossing or eating correctly which only require doing the task innumerable times. For other tasks plateau busting will eventually be required.

Though it’s on a longer schedule, habituation is lot quicker than going through the yo-yo cycles of shorter programs that don’t stick.