BETA
Chapter 1
Inside the habit building brain
Chapter 2
Why our minds hate breaking the chain
Chapter 3
How the world tracks progress through history
Chapter 4
The bright and dark side of the streak
Ch 3 · How the world tracks progress through history
duolingo Connect daily actions into streaks to learn how tiny habits drive massive historical progress.
duolingo He recorded daily violations with black spots in a small book, focusing on one virtue weekly to complete four annual rotations.
Quiz
What did Benjamin Franklin draw in his journal to represent a day where he failed to live up to a virtue?
Quiz
How many virtues did a young Benjamin Franklin track in his physical daily journal starting in 1726?
Fun Fact
Franklin's tracker: Benjamin Franklin carried his daily virtue tracker for decades, rewriting the paper grid whenever it wore out from heavy eraser use.
duolingo Kaizen originated in Japanese factories to drive continuous progress through small daily habits.
Quiz
What does the Japanese word 'Kaizen,' a philosophy of continuous daily improvement, translate to?
Quiz
Mathematically, if you improve by 1 percent every day for a year, how many times better will you become?
Glossary
tally stick (noun)
An ancient memory aid device used to record and document numbers, quantities, or messages. Medieval English treasuries split notched hazel wood rods to track financial records starting in the twelfth century.
An ancient memory aid device used to record and document numbers, quantities, or messages. Medieval English treasuries split notched hazel wood rods to track financial records starting in the twelfth century.
Quiz
Which 6th-century European figure wrote a famous rule book that standardized daily monastic schedules?
Quiz
What is the traditional Latin term for the highly structured daily schedules used in monasteries?
Quiz
Why is prioritizing consistency over intensity a highly effective psychological strategy in habit building?