Why habits are ??
There are four stages to learning anything. First, there's unconscious incompetence. In this stage, we're unaware or don't know that we don't know something. For example, I wasn't aware that I wasn't speaking a language properly. Eventually, I realized that I wasn't competent, which leads to the second stage, or conscious incompetence. Some take this realization to the next level and actively do something about it, pursuing learning programs, apprenticeships, etc. to make it to the third stage, or conscious competence, in which you know that you know a certain skill, topic, thing, etc. Eventually, after continual practice, we acquire competence, and the skill becomes second nature, ultimately becoming unaware of the certain skill. It takes no effort to conjure it, and forms into unconscious competence, or not knowing that you know something. Some call this great experience, or intuition. To become truly unconsciously competent though, one must build habits ??.
If you wish to truly become conversationally fluent with Speechling, build it into your life as a habit. Continual daily use of our curated language learning curriculum will activate your brain's plasticity, solidifying as linguistic tapestry in your mind. Anything done everyday, given enough continual use, will manifest growth in the area of pursued interest, and with Speechling you’ll eventually listen, record and receive feedback to the extent that your conversational fluency will noticeably improve. You'll notice it, our coaches will notice it, and so will everyone you eventually talk to.
Before deciding to dedicate time every day to building your next habit, examine and ask yourself about your habits from a birds-eye view: which habits are serving me? Which habits aren't? Are they making me happier? Healthier? Are they helping me do what I'm setting out to accomplish? Answer these questions, uncondition yourself, and tear the habits apart that are no longer serving you positively.
For example, despite the cliché, we have our best days after a 1) good night's rest followed by a 2) rigorous morning workout, and 3) proper nutrition. If you're human, it's a daily regimen for the morning that just works. The most common excuse for not being incorporate this into one's life is, "I don't have time", which really translates to "I don't prioritize it highly enough in my life to make it actively manifest in my day." If you want to make something a habit, you have to ask yourself, "Is this a priority for me, or not?"
Eliminate any excuses and prioritize whatever it is that you wish to make a habit. Your #1 priority will manifest, but only if actively prioritized. To make this a habit, say to yourself, “My #1 priority in life, above happiness, above family, is my own health, which starts with physical health”, but actually believe it. Working out will then take as long as it takes, since it’s now your #1 thing.
Protip: It’s easier to replace bad habits with good ones than just remove them entirely. For example, getting your daily feel-good chemicals from the endorphins during a work out via delayed gratification can replace other daily feel-good regimens prompted by external substances like drugs and/or alcohol.
More juicy learning material from What I've Learned and Naval Ravikant (AngelList's CEO) on farnamstreetblog:
- WHY Habits form & HOW to build them
- HOW to quit Sugar & Unhealthy Habits
- Naval Ravikant on Reading, Happiness, Systems for Decision Making, Habits, Honesty and More
tl;dr
Learning happens in 4 stages and as creatures of habit, we should all be striving to get to the 4th stage if we want to learn anything to our best potential.
- You don't know you don't know.
- You know you don't know.
- You know you know.
- You don't know you know (it's a habit!)