The power of habit stacking… Books… Knowledge… Horns blare as the procession marches down the street. Frank, local to the adventurer’s hotspot chatted over games late into the night. Jeers and exasperated sighs come out over dry puns. The spirits high, tales would grow tall as each feat from battles before earned more imagery and less clarity. Yet, thanks to techniques indistinguishable, memories made their way into a viewable media. Thin faces display images- visual recollections of the dramatic changes within their experiences.
It starts with the spitting of facts. For this, I refer to books. They condense the most information per readable area. It seems to be the ideal I seek, creating imagery with both thought and light. A book I saw my sister get for her freshman year class happened to be the same I’d seen somewhere. Constant thought about my thoughts gave way to many things. I write a blog somewhat regularly, I read others’ thoughts to better grasp my own, and I built a bookshelf I carried a mile on my back, home.
When I read about environmental design, I thought about the brother of a writer I followed for years. He ended his thoughts with an adage he crafted. The uncanny similarity from two unrelated sources gave me the chills. Goosebumps run alongside my body once something gives me a great sensation. Music, emotion, a film or even a story- I get those goosebumps every time. People do it too. I reacted similarly at a blockchain conference. The retired professor, presently chief innovation officer gave a lecture as he moderated the panel. It was all I could do to listen and text down his thoughts and suggestions. Months later, using thoughts he and others inspire, I added one more detail the photographer’s ideal image of a workspace.
Denis Diderot, a man not unlike myself, once bought a robe. A robe comparable to the softness of the cloth that swaddles children, in the color of flush cheeks and kisses, seductive and hot, the robe may have been his best purchase in recent memory. His fascination with it led to a habit of purchasing finer things. The robe inspired more in him and his wallet. All this finery had an unexpected finality. The garment became a source of regret. He spent everything on items to match the calibre, only to realize greater items do not always lead to greater joy. He maximized, rather than satisficed.
Diderot’s dilemma doesn’t have to be my undoing. Rather, his lesson does me a solid. Positive behaviors have the potential for combos, compounding their efficacy. Clear calls this ‘habit stacking’. In my picture, it looks a little like this. Drum and bass plays when I game. I associate winning with drum and bass. Playing my winning tunes while I work on chores like folding clothes or building bookshelves gives the greatest feeling. I’m winning at life. Similarly, with reading others’ thoughts within these texts of experience, I want to write my own. Make known what it is I struggled with for months. Picture that what I accomplish today. Forecast the days ahead better than weathermen. Writing after reading fits who I want to be. Stacking tokens, habits and books builds the bank for that person. One man’s dilemma, another man’s deliverance.