Skip to content

Chris Loper

Chris Loper has been writing about self-improvement and helping busy adults with habit formation since 2017. He also writes an education blog for parents and students for Northwest Educational Services. Along with Greg Smith, Chris is the cocreator of Parenting for Academic Success, a series of transformative classes that create empowered parents, confident students, and harmonious families. His most recent endeavor combines his academic and habit-formation expertise to help students thrive in college. Visit SmartCollegeHabits.com to learn more. In 2021, Chris published a humorous memoir titled Wood Floats and Other Brilliant Observations, a book that blends crazy stories with practical life lessons. He lives in Issaquah, WA where he is the owner of South Cove Tutoring.

Rejecting a Culture of Shame and Self-Doubt

“In a world that profits off your self-doubt, to love yourself is a rebellious act.” –Bliss n Eso The media landscape is filled with artificial perfection. People you see on TV and in movies. Airbrushed photos on magazine covers. Carefully curated social media profiles. All there make you feel inadequate. Most of it there because it benefits advertisers and the companies whose products they sell. Ironically, the same advertisers who… Read More »Rejecting a Culture of Shame and Self-Doubt

A Habit is Like a Muddy Slope

A habit is like a hill that’s steep and muddy at the bottom, but which levels off and becomes less slippery as you go up. At first, it’s very hard to get a foothold and make progress. It’s really easy to slip back down to the bottom. But if you can make it past the difficult beginning, continued progress gets easier and easier. This is similar to how memory works… Read More »A Habit is Like a Muddy Slope

5 Lessons from 1 Year at the Gym

A little over a year ago, I got a membership to 24 Hour Fitness. I’ve long had a routine of working out at home, so I had no intention of using the gym for exercise. I got the membership because it was the easiest way to gain access to a hot tub. But I’m a big believer in little experiments, so about a year ago, I decided to try a… Read More »5 Lessons from 1 Year at the Gym

Habits are Neural Pathways

Everything you do is controlled by your brain. Muscle memory? Nope. That’s brain memory. Like all memories, it’s stored in your brain as a neural pathway – a connection between neurons. The first time you learn something – whether it’s how to throw a frisbee or the square root of 49 – your brain forms a new neural connection. It literally grows a tiny filament between two or more neurons… Read More »Habits are Neural Pathways

New here?

For over a decade, I’ve been focused on one question: How do we actually become better, in ways that last?

This blog shares the lessons, tools, and ideas I’ve found most useful—grounded in research and experience.

Subscribe to get new insights delivered to your inbox.