Too Many Attempts at Habit Formation

In the last week or so since getting back my self discipline has been all over the board. I’ll be able to do 2-3 tasks, but I won’t be able to accomplish the full 4 and the additional “test” task I had of eating well.

One of two things is happening - either not hit my groove again from my vacation, OR I’ve hit my limit of willpower to accomplish those tasks.

If we say it’s the second one, it makes sense. Instead of waiting for a requisite amount of time to create a habit, THEN adding another task, I’ve just been adding another task every week, which doesn’t at all fit into the research I’ve been reading about willpower and habit formation.

Since I’ve come back from my vacation, I’ve been generally keeping up with 750 words and meditation, but things like Duolingo & Habit RPG have been falling through the cracks, with my test skill, eating right using Epic Win being hit or miss as well.

This is a good thing in that my actual actions seem to mimic the research I’m reading. It’s a bad thing because I’m going to have to re-do my overall plan for this project. Oh well. A part of all of this is knowing that I’m not going to hit the mark the first time - it’s about learning and adapting.

Back From Vacation

As I might have mentioned in another post, I just got back from a vacation. During this interlude, I put myself in the “Tavern” in HabitRPG and allowed myself to have a few drinks. I didn’t hold to doing 750 words daily. And didn’t do Duolingo or my daily meditations.

Two things about this.

One, I need to figure a way to continue being rigorous about my discipline through such interludes. There will always be interruptions, and I think the key to all of this is to soldier on despite them. Now for this trip, there were times I really didn’t have time to do my 750 words or Duolingo, and that’s fine. BUT it was not a reason to drink because that action can be done anywhere. Just a thought.

But secondly, I’ve found it really difficult to get back on track. I initially felt like I could get back “on the wagon” for all habits the next day after coming back, but instead it’s taken me a while to get over what I’ll call habit inertia. And that’s another good reason to power through vacations or other interruptions in some way or another. It’s just plain difficult to get started again.

Well I’m back on today - so far I’ve completed my meditation, 750 words, I’ve gotten out of the tavern on HabitRPG, and I’ll be doing my Duolingo shortly.

July 4th and Rising to the Challenge of Habituation

On July 4th I had a party at my house. Lots of grilling, beer, etc.

What was interesting is that I felt the whole thing was a challenge I was rising to meet.

I didn’t drink and I actually viewed it as a challenge. You see, on Habit RPG I actually get bonus points if I don’t drink at a party. I actually feel so much better about going to a bar or whatnot because I know I get more points in game if other people are drinking around me and I’m not. In specific, I’ve coded the game to give me more points at my moments of greatest weakness.

The other day a friend made some comment about going out for a drink, but not wanting to ask me to go because I won’t drink. I actually encouraged it, because I knew I’d get double points, hahaha. And that’s great - the whole point of this is to be more engaged in life, to do more rather than avoid situations completely.

And before this gamification, I did view parties and bars as huge temptations - and it is hard to stay sober when everyone else is drinking - it’s social pressure. This is the first time I’ve viewed it as a challenge - I actually want to get into those situations because it gives me the opportunity to get more points. This is a huge reframing.

Back at my July 4th party, I actually took about half an hour out from the party to go to my room and write so that I could fulfill my 750words.com mission for the day.

After I finished a guy messaged me, giving me a hard time about not doing my writing and posting it like I usually do - I got a huge kick out of messaging him back to check again.

And that mentality is what I want to cultivate - that evil grin you get when someone is expecting you to completely fail, but you know you’ve got the proof to show them that you have risen. It’s a surge of power knowing you are crushing their expectations. I should really come up with a word for this powerful mindset and cultivate it even more.

I am very curious how this dynamic, which is valuable in and of itself right now, will affect me over the long term while adding other types of discipline to  my life.

Habit RPG and Habits of Omission Part 2

I’ve decided to not only NOT drink alcohol, but also coffee, which tends to make me worried and nervous.

I’ve done this by having a DAILIES - not drinking coffee/beer for a day. This section in Habit RPG is a daily task that gets more and more difficult - so in the game your score gets higher and higher the longer your streak is.

I’ve also created HABITS - specific tasks. I wanted ways to conceive of tasks that are positive rather than simply getting docked for failing to NOT do something.

So every time I refuse a drink, I get points. Every time I don’t drink an alcoholic drink at a bar or social event, I get even more points ( I’ve gone into the advanced features to weight the task as “difficult” thereby giving more points for every successful completion).

According to The Power of Habit, it is easier to replace a task than not do it - so I also get points every time I replace coffee or alcohol with water - and I might also include a replacement with any positive activity, like going for a walk.

Lastly, I’ve decided to use a technique in meditation to fight any cravings. My addiction isn’t physical, it’s more a social habit based on the experience and the art of a finely crafted drink amongst friends, etc. There is a specific technique to bring about a feeling - normally irritation or anger - and then calming the self as a way of practicing avoiding the pitfalls of actions that come from anger.

In this way one instance of practicing bringing about anger/irritation and quelling the emotion is like one rep. I’ve gotten a lot out of that technique when it comes to emotional management, and see no reason why it wouldn’t work with any other emotion. So I’m doing it for alcohol.

I’ll look up pics of drinks or situations, feel the cravings enter, and then practicing dealing with them by relaxing my mind and unhooking the feeling of a stimulus with the craving. I’ll go into more detail on this in another post.

In Habit RPG one “rep” of this will also be a HABIT and I will get points from doing this too.

So far here are the specifics of the game:

-Not drinking a margarita at a Mexican place (Just came up with this one recently) - MEDIUM difficulty, cause I associate the two

-Drinking water as a replacement for alcohol/coffee - Easy

-Not drinking coffee - Easy - not sure if this should be replaced with the later or not

-Not drinking at a bar - DIFFICULT

-Not drinking at a non-bar social event - DIFFICULT

-Not drinking coffee/alcohol for the day

Habit RPG and Habits of Omission Part 1

Habit RPG works as a customizable gamification of habits. Basically you input things that are daily habits, and whether or not you can get penalized or get points from an action.  There is also a “daily” section, where not doing a  task penalizes you.

You have an avatar that can get gold, experience to level up, and hit points which can be taken away. You have the option of buying potions, armor, etc. to level up your character.

I like this because it adds an extra dimension to the gamification - many programs allow you to level without an avatar or equipment - I believe that with the avatar and equipment you add an extra level of addiction.

Books like For the Win by Werbach and Hunter (I’ll do a book review of it later) talk about 4 types of players. One category - the explorers - get addicted because they want to discover new aspects to the imaginary situation - they want to know what the next spell is or the new weapon. And that is definitely the kind of player I am.

Unfortunately the other kind of player I am is someone who likes PvP - I like knowing I have the power to destroyer others - I think Werbach and Hunter call these people “killers.”

I’m very curious how HabitRPG compares to something like Fitocracy, which DOES allow for PvP “battles”.