charlotte mason on new years' resolutions

"Habit is ten natures."--Charlotte Mason in Home Education

In this season of resolutions and new starts, I have a tendency to get frustrated with the assumption that a New Years' resolution will only last for a few short months. It is as if they are promises meant to only be kept temporarily. Just today I was at the gym and overheard a woman who worked there commenting on the crowds in January that will inevitably die down by March. Charlotte Mason would not approve of this transitory approach to self improvement, because Charlotte Mason of all people understood the power of a habit; thus, she says, "A habit is ten natures," meaning that a habit has ten times the strength of your natural personality or tendency.

In one of her volumes, she talks about the frustration of being a teacher and trying truly help her students improve: "But it was plain that they behaved very much as 'twas their nature to. The faults they had, they kept; and the virtues they had were exercised just as fitfully as before. The good, meek girl still told fibs. The bright, generous child was still incurably idle. In lessons it was the same; the dawdling child went on dawdling, the dull child became no brighter. It was very disappointing" (Home Education pg. 98). She acknowledges the strength and self discipline it takes to make oneself do what one ought to do. And the "lever" or tool to lift oneself out of one's nature is the formation of good habits. Habit, then, is essentially reforming your nature making it one of the primary tools of education and the primary tool of self betterment.

Charlotte Mason recognizes that forming a habit takes a lot of hard work and constant watchfulness and attention. You can think of it as removing the effort of decision from the equation. For example, a few years ago I made a conscious decision to get into the habit of working out. Rather than driving home every evening, going back and forth over whether or not to work out, what work out I should do, and what should I wear to work out, I removed all the effort of those decisions. I packed a bag with my gym clothes in the morning and did not give myself the option of going home and went straight to the gym after work. By not allowing myself to waver as easily and changing my schedule so that I was not deciding what to do after work, forming a new habit became much easier.

I talk a lot about good habits and bad habits in the classroom every day. When I started teaching, I remember feeling very convicted that I was requiring my children to do things, like be on time and stay organized, that I was not doing myself. But over the years, I have made the decision to form some new habits, and it has been one of the most empowering experiences of my life. The knowledge that you can change something about yourself with discipline, watchfulness, and some help from the Holy Spirit is invaluable. I hope that by the time they leave my classroom, my students can understand the "ten nature" strength of habits.

A suggestion: Along with working out, I also made the decision a few years ago to get in the habit of reading so I decided to read one book a month. I cannot tell you how wonderful this has been. I highly recommend reading for pleasure as a habit to add to your arsenal this year. (You could start with some Barnes and Noble Classics because that is a very good place to start.)