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.
Two years ago, as a personal experiment, I printed a calendar: one page with three months on it. This was to be my “calendar chain” for meditation. And since September 4th, 2015, I have missed just seven days of meditation, and I have spent over 10,000 minutes meditating.* The weird thing is, I thought the whole idea of a calendar chain was stupid. The concept sounded cheesy, lame, and unnecessary.… Read More »Calendar Chain
Don’t keep your eyes on the prize. Yes, you should have a goal. And it should be significant enough to energize and motivate you. But if you rely on feeling energized and motivated by your goal, you’ll never get there. And yes, you should know what direction you’re heading. But if you just focus on the outcome you want, you will fail to focus on what actually moves you closer… Read More »Keep Your Eyes On The Process
We’re all familiar with the costs associated with procrastination: the stress of feeling behind, the panic of last-minute effort, the regret of missing deadlines. But there’s another cost I want you to consider: the thinking cost. Very often, the cost of procrastination is excessive thinking about the task. For example, if you procrastinate on a minor household task, like putting something away, it probably doesn’t cost you much inconvenience day-to-day.… Read More »The Thinking Cost
In what direction do you want your life to go? 20 Seconds can make a surprising difference. Here’s how. The 20-Second Rule In his book, The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life, Shawn Achor describes a simple life hack that he uses to facilitate positive behavioral change: The 20 Second Rule. This principle states that if you make something just 20 seconds easier to… Read More »The Surprising Power of the 20 Second Rule