Micro-habits – An English Conversation Lesson for high intermediate and advanced students.
Micro-habits are small, simple actions that we build into our daily routine, that compound over time and lead to meaningful, lasting results. By connecting new behaviours to your existing routine consistently and intentionally, you can improve yourself in a systematic and drama-free way.
Let’s talk about it!
What are your initial thoughts?
Describe what you anticipate the essay to be about.
Reading One – Why is change for the better so difficult?
Reading Two – Micro-habits make change doable.
Reading Three – How to build micro-habits
Reading One – Why is change for the better so difficult?
Vocabulary
1.) Match the words to their synonyms.
2.) Stop reading after each paragraph, and try out using the synonyms to say the sentences another way.
Reading One
We all have things that we’d like to improve about ourselves and our lifestyles. Maybe it’s studying more, getting into shape, managing our budget better, having a more fulfilling social life, or just living more consciously.
We make grand resolutions and set lofty goals for ourselves. We try to implement the new behaviour… and after awhile, we find ourselves sliding back into our old patterns.
Sustaining a substantial change in our lifestyle by sheer willpower alone is extremely difficult. It’s like lifting a weight, and then holding it up, indefinitely. It’s an exhausting, daunting way to approach achieving long-term change.
How many thousands of decisions do you make every day? Imagine how hard our brains are working every second. We are constantly juggling our mood, our emotions, our responsibilities and wants and needs, while we navigate traffic, chores, schedules and relationships. Meanwhile, we are striving to make each one of our decisions align with our values and goals. Managing daily life already takes a lot of mental energy! Adding a major change on top of it all?
It’s a recipe for failure. And when we fail, it decreases the self confidence and motivation we need to get back up and try again. No wonder change is so hard!
Conversation Questions
1.) What are five changes you’d like to make in yourself or your life.
2.) Why do you think big, sudden changes in our lifestyle and habits are difficult to maintain?
3.) Talk about a time that you tried and failed to change a behaviour. What held you back?
4.) Talk about a time that you managed to sustain a desired change. What helped you?
Reading Two – Micro-habits make changing doable.
Pronunciation – Does the final S sound like S, Z, or IZ?
Review the rules, if you have any doubts.
works
shortcuts
decisions
patterns
sequences
actions
habits
things
Reading Two
The brain works hard, but it also takes shortcuts. Many of our decisions are automated. We are so used to our patterns that whole sequences of our daily actions require little thought and mental energy. These are our habits, the things we do without thinking.
Do you start brushing your teeth on the left or right side of your mouth? Do you tie your right or left shoe first? How many red lights did you stop at on your drive home last night? If you don’t recall it’s normal and healthy. Our habits are so engrained that we do them on automatic pilot. The brain frees up mental energy to dedicate to other tasks.
Micro-habits are powerful because they build on this automated system. The idea is to add a quick, simple behaviour to something you already do. And then continue engaging in this new action until it becomes part of your existing routines. Set it, and forget it.
Select routine moments in your life, and connect one more step. Do it over and over, until you forget about it. And then build on it.
It could be drinking a glass of water as soon as your feet hit the floor in the morning, doing five push ups right after you brush your teeth, reading a paragraph in a second language with your afternoon coffee, or taking a deep breath as soon as you notice that you’re tense.
Micro-habits harness our natural motivation. Seeing yourself make even the smallest positive, intentional change and succeeding at it feels good, and that builds your desire to do even better. They are a simple, unremarkable, powerful way to change yourself intentionally and improve your life.
Comprehension and Self-expression Questions
1.) Summaries the text in your own words.
2.) Does the brain use shortcuts? How so?
3.) Why is slowly adding micro-habits more motivating than attempting to make big changes, according to the reading?
Conversation Questions
1.) What parts of your daily routine do you do without thinking? When are you on automatic pilot?
2.) When are you present and mindful?
3.) When are you distracted and unhappy?
4.) What are five good daily habits that you are glad to have?
5.) What is one daily habit you wish you had or didn’t have?
Reading Three – How to Build Micro-habits
There are two key things to keep in mind if you want to incorporate new micro-habits into your life effectively. First, don’t think about the new behaviours when you are trying to implement them, but do give them careful consideration before you get started. Second, be patient and don’t rush the process.
First, think carefully beforehand about what you want to achieve. Have a clear, measurable objective in mind.
Make the goal specific. Not ‘I want to be stronger’. Rather ‘I want to be in the habit of doing twenty push ups every morning, first thing when I get out of bed’. Not ‘I’d like to be better with money’. But ‘I want to be have two thousand dollars in savings by June’. Give yourself a way to know when you’ve reached your goal.
Second, go slowly. If you find you are struggling and forcing yourself, then you are pushing too hard. Keep it simple. The idea is to connect the new habit to one you already have. These anchors are fragile at first. Make them as light and easy as possible, so that you do them consistently.
Conversation Questions – Infinitives and Gerunds
Check out the Infinitives and Gerunds Lesson to review the verbs that change meaning depending on their form.
Let’s talk.
1.) What behaviour do you want to stop doing. What do you need to stop to do?
2.) What is something that you try doing better at? What is something that you try to do, but fail?
3.)What habit do you remember doing? What habit do you remember doing that you are proud of?
4.) Is there anything that you forget doing? Is there anything that you forget to do?
5.) Describe a time that you couldn’t help doing. Describe a time that you couldn’t help someone to do.
6.) Now that you know about micro-habits, will you go on doing the same things, or will you go on to do something differently?
Further Reading
Micro Habits: The Easy Route to Lasting Change – Freedom
8 Micro-Habits That Can Help You Live a Happier, Healthier Life – Huffpost
Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta‐analysis of Effects and Processes – Sciencedirect
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