“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” —Plato
Last year, I sent out two first-term newsletters: one to juniors and one to seniors. This year, it might make sense to send out one to SAT students and another to ACT students with both tests coming right around the corner. Yet this year, I think we will speak of beginnings. This fall marks the 23rd beginning at The Study-O: twenty-three terms full of questions and answers, quests and accomplishments – for all of us. We all work hard. This year, I hear a song by The La’s play in my head as the term starts: “There She Goes.” It makes me think about how I’m going into the term – am I going to barrel straight ahead and do everything the same? Am I going to think about it and make a few adjustments? Am I going to not evaluate anything and just wing it? See what happens?
“The beginning is the most important part of the work,” said Plato, referring to “the work” of education. He advocates forming a strong foundation upon which we can establish patterns that structure our lives. Early habits become lasting habits, and the first patterns we establish shape what follows. Just like first impressions matter, the opening of any endeavor sets its direction and momentum, especially in education.
So, we want to think about how we get started this year. Whether we have the SAT in two weeks or the ACT in a few more, whether we have our Common App filled out or a draft of the essay, whether we debate over AP classes or Early Decision or Regular Decision… let’s consider the habits we build this term that will carry us through to the end.
We agree – if we lay a strong foundation, everything we build afterward has a better chance of standing. More than two thousand years post-Plato, James Clear has been making a similar argument from a different perspective: the small habits we establish at the beginning shape the people we become.
A writer and speaker best known for his bestselling book Atomic Habits, James Clear argues that the lives we build are the sum of the habits we repeat. Small choices, made consistently, have a far greater impact than occasional moments of extraordinary effort. He argues that our daily choices gradually shape the people we become: “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”
Every step you take is a step in the direction you want to go. We want to begin by going in the intended direction, in an intentional manner. If we consider this “the beginning” of a new academic year, and know that every year has a beginning, middle, and an end, then can’t we presume that we have a couple of months to begin? We have August and September to get off to a good start?
Now we can establish goals that matter to us, habits that will serve us, and a foundation that will hold the structure we build all year.
Here is not where I give you a list of things to do or some tips about good habits; here is where I advise you to observe (yourself) carefully to determine the habits that benefit you. What do you know about yourself and your environment/situation that will guide the way you get started?
Me? I’m a night-owl by nature. I’m a planner. I see where the big deadlines fall this term. Those pieces of information will help me set the hours of my business, which align with my students’ school/activities schedules, and set expectations for busy weeks and weeks in which I can take a break and concentrate on self-care or family or publishing an ACT workbook.
Take a good look at your schedule, your demands, your situation, your resources, your tendencies, your preferences, and your strengths. Use them to form habits that serve you. That can take a minute–seriously. Habits are formed by the sheer process of repetition and cease being habitual when you stop doing them over and over.
James Clear doesn't obsess over how long it takes to form a habit; he asks “how do I become the kind of person who keeps doing this?” When people ask Clear how long it takes to form a habit, he replies “the honest answer is: forever. Because once you stop doing it, it is no longer a habit. A habit is a lifestyle to be lived, not a finish line to be crossed.”
I say this to point out that you have time to get a good start – to start a new beginning. See what works for you in these first couple of months and keep what works. Form some good habits here at the new term. Build on a good foundation.
For the Curious
Book:
James Clear. Atomic Habits. Avery, 2018.
Classic:
Plato. The Republic. Translated by Allan Bloom, Basic Books, 1991.
Music:
The La’s. “There She Goes” The La’s. Go! Discs, 1990.
Official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68MKLkNSMN4
