Commitments, Habits, and Virtue

Acting on commitments leads to habits, and habits, as Aristotle held, cultivate virtue. We’re a little more than a month into 2011, so now’s a good time to look back at the commitments we made to ourselves at the end of 2010. I’ll go first.

One of the commitments I made was to exercise every day. I have. Now I’ve got two things on my side. First, I’ve got a big chain of Xs that I don’t want to break. The psychological pressure I’ve created for myself has pushed me to exercise on at least four days I wouldn’t have otherwise. Second, it now feels weird not to exercise. I guess that’s the beginning of that habit that Greek guy was talking about.

How about you? How are you doing with commitments you’ve made to yourself?

Comments

[Rob Donoghue]

I just experienced my first "weird to not exercise" day yesterday. I'd hit the weights pretty hard last week, so I had planned for Sunday to be a rest day. No exercise at all, just rest and recovery. Spent a fair chunk of the day jonesing to hop on the bike or do something similar. Very strange experience.

-Rob D.

[Jon Edwards]

I'm unemployed at the moment and I'm intent on "leveling up" in three areas: fitness, roleplaying, and project management. So far it's going well. I'm also looking for employment...

I'm doing intense MMA-based intense fitness workouts pretty regularly. I've discovered that I'm an even bigger endorphin junkie than I knew previously. After a couple of days without an intense workout, I'm climbing the walls and going crazy.

I'm devouring books about agile project management (reading KANBAN now) and writing about roleplaying and project management. Writing is great exercise for my brain.

I'm discovering that more and more than I'm enjoying doing the things that are good for me.