There’s an incredibly common anecdote about building habits that gets thrown around all the time:
“It only takes 21 days to form a new habit!”
I debunked this myth in my post on if-then habit formation, but it’s a good point to revisit because the research findings highlight an important fact:
Forming new habits, or breaking bad ones, is really hard.
During the two month period (on average) that it takes to build a new habit, you’re having to use your limited willpower to get things done. Whether you’re trying to run every day, read more often, or practice a new skill consistently, the willpower needed to do it is also being used up by everything else going on in your life.
Ever noticed, though, that getting things done in a video game is usually much easier?
In video games – especially RPGs – you have to do the same thing over and over again (grinding). However, you usually don’t run out of motivation to do so. Why is that?
In this video, I’ll show you the design aspects that game developers build into their games in order to keep your motivation levels high, and I’ll also show you an awesome app called Habitica that brings these concepts into the real world.
I’ve been using HabitRPG for several months now, and it’s become a staple in my small arsenal of productivity apps.
Ready to turn your life in to a video game?
(If you’re unable to see the video above, you can view it on YouTube)
Video Notes
- Want to join the CIG guild on Habitica? Here’s the link!
- Here’s the UCL study on habit formation I cited in the video.
- I talked about my morning ritual in the video as well (it’s helped me a lot).
P.S. – I put a ton of effort into this video and I think it’s my best work to date. I even recorded a guitar track for the background music! If you liked this video and found it useful, I’d be extremely grateful if you shared it with a friend 🙂
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