How to Build the Habit of Sitting Upfront?

From Jamesclear.com

How to build the habit of sitting upfront? In James Clear’s Atomic Habits, he presents us with The Four Laws of Behaviour Change. They are a simple set of rules to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.

1. make it obvious — Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand out. Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment. Besides being obvious they should be consistent too. You should choose a cue that happens at the beginning of every class, for example, your cue to sit in the front row could be your teacher entering the room this is both obvious and happens consistently.
2. make it attractive — After the cue, comes the craving. The craving is the motivational force to do the habit. To make the craving of sitting in the front row more attractive, you could sit next to that person in the front row who you always wanted to get to know, or you could do something called temptation bundling where directly after you do the habit that you need to do you do the habit that you want to do. In this case, you tell yourself after the class finishes I will talk to my friends, or look at Instagram etc.
3. make it easy — After the craving, comes the response. This is doing the actual actions of the habit. You want to make the act of doing the habit as easy and as frictionless as possible. Here are few ideas to do just that: If you have poor vision and you need a little extra boost to move to the front then simply remove your glasses or contact lens before each class starts. You will become so frustrated that you can’t see anything that you’ll practically force yourself to set upfront. If you want to stay extra accountable, then give your glasses or contact lens to your friend and tell them not to give them back to you until the class ends. Congrats, you just made it easier for yourself to sit in the front by ironically making any other option harder for you.
4. make it satisfying — After the response, comes the reward. The reward is important because it will help repeat the habit in the future. Two important things when choosing a reward is not to choose a reward that is self-sabotaging to your goals like if you want to lose weight you wouldn’t reward yourself with a pizza after each time you go for a run, and that the reward should come immediately after the response with as little delay as possible. The smaller the delay, the more you will connect the reward with the habit.

Sometimes the best approach is to jump straight into the deep end. I recommend this approach. But if you find this approach to nerve-racking, then you can adopt a more gradual approach: spend the first week in the third row from the front; the second week in the second row and by the third week move to the front. This approach allows you to build up your confidence. You will have a better idea of what the environment is like.

Outcome-based vs. identity-based habits

When trying to build new habits they should be based on identity, not on outcomes. For example, your goal should not just be to sit in the front row (outcome-based), but rather to be the kind of person who always sits in the front row (identity-based). The difference in thinking is subtle, but with the former approach you may still be holding on to your old identity and that may ultimately sabotage you from building new habits and getting rid of bad habits. Perhaps, you were initially the person who would sit in the back and chat with their friends during class (your “old” identity), if you try to build a new habit of sitting in the front row it will be difficult because you haven’t changed your identity you’re still holding onto to this old identity. Your identity and your desired outcomes are not congruent so you will have to always exert a lot of will power in order to fight these two opposing forces. You are forcing yourself to sit in the front row, but your identity is telling you to chat with your friends. Much easier is to start with your desired identity and build up your habits from there.

The best time to start a new habit is the first day of a week, month or year because new beginnings usually bring new hope. If we have hope, we have a reason to take action. A fresh start feels motivating. To implement this habit you could start at the beginning of a new semester. Let me know if you’ve found this article useful.