Superhabits 101
A quick review
We had a large increase in subscriptions over the past couple of weeks — welcome to all of you! — so I thought it would be helpful to do a quick review of what we know about superhabits. If you are new, we recommend you look at our About page.
What is a superhabit?
A superhabit is a special kind of good habit, a habit of excellence, like courage, self-discipline, creativity, etc. It is the same thing as the classical idea of a virtue, but I use the name “superhabit” to emphasize that each is a habit, which anyone can develop — anyone can become more courageous, disciplined, creative, etc. by cultivating the appropriate superhabit.
Why should we care about superhabits?
Extensive scientific evidence from the field of positive psychology shows that as you grow in each superhabit, your life gets easier, happier, healthier, and you become more effective. Good habits make specific parts of your life easier, by making them more automatic and less effortful. Superhabits make large, important areas of your life easier.
Which habits are superhabits?
The medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas combined all the superhabits into one comprehensive system. I have visualized them into this diagram:
which I call The Anatomy of Virtue. Collectively, these superhabits make up the human operating system.
How do I grow in a superhabit?
To grow in a superhabit, all you need to do is choose a small, simple way to practice it every day. For example, to grow in the superhabit of gratitude, perhaps take one minute at the end of each day to write down the things you are grateful for from that day. The main thing is not to try to grow in one of the larger (“cardinal”) superhabits like self-discipline or courage directly, but to focus instead on one of the smaller superhabits associated with them (you can see which superhabits are associated with each cardinal superhabit in the diagram above).
There are four stages we pass through when growing in a superhabit, from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence. Here are some examples, for growing in the superhabits of Restraint, Alertness, Perseverance, and Foresight.
To keep learning more about superhabits, read this brief writeup about a recent keynote I gave on the topic, or watch the keynote itself.
Feel free to leave any questions about superhabits in the comments.