Introduction
Welcome back to the weekly newsletter.
When people want to improve their habits, they often start by adding something new.
A new morning routine.
A new workout plan.
A new productivity system.
A new app.
But sometimes the better starting point is not adding. It is diagnosing.
This week’s tool is the Habit Test: rate your current habits on a simple 1–5 scale so you can see where your routine is strong, where it is weak, and what deserves attention first.
The goal is not to score yourself for the sake of it. It is to find the weak link.
Weekly highlight: Rate current habits on a 1–5 scale to locate weak spots.
Most routines are not equally strong.
You may exercise consistently but sleep badly.
You may plan your week well but constantly lose focus during the day.
You may be disciplined professionally but neglect relationships.
You may read and learn often but rarely apply anything.
That imbalance matters. A single weak habit can undermine several strong ones. So before trying to improve everything, assess what is already happening.
Choose the habits that actually matter
Do not rate 30 habits. Pick the small number that most directly affects how well your life currently works.
For example:
- sleep;
- exercise;
- nutrition;
- focus;
- planning;
- learning;
- relationships;
- recovery;
- finances;
- personal organization.
You can also use the four Phoenix life areas:
- Personal Development
- Family & Friends
- Mental & Health
- Professional
The point is to identify the routines that materially affect your current performance and wellbeing.
Use a simple 1–5 scale
Keep the scoring practical.
1: Very weak
Rarely happens or regularly creates problems.
2: Weak
Inconsistent and clearly needs improvement.
3: Acceptable
Works reasonably well but is unreliable.
4: Strong
Consistent and generally supports you.
5: Excellent
Reliable, deliberate, and producing the result you want.
For example:
Sleep: 2
Exercise: 4
Weekly planning: 5
Learning: 3
Time with family: 2
Already, you can see where the real issues may be.
Score behavior, not intention
This is important.
Do not rate the habit based on what you believe you value. Rate what you actually do.
If you believe health matters but sleep five hours most nights, sleep is not a 4. If family is a priority but work takes every evening, the relationship habit is not strong because the intention is good. Use evidence from the last two to four weeks.
Ask: What actually happened?
A useful assessment needs honesty more than optimism.
Look for the lowest scores first
Once you have the ratings, do not immediately improve the habit you find most interesting. Look at the lowest scores.
Then ask: Which weak habit creates problems elsewhere?
For example poor sleep may also reduce:
- focus;
- exercise consistency;
- patience;
- decision quality;
- motivation.
Weak weekly planning may create:
- missed priorities;
- reactive work;
- forgotten commitments;
- unnecessary stress.
Poor financial organization may create:
- anxiety;
- poor spending decisions;
- delayed goals;
- relationship friction.
This is why the lowest score is not always the most important issue. Look for the habit with the biggest knock-on effect.
Find the weak link, not the weakest number
Suppose you score:
Exercise: 2
Sleep: 2
Both are equally low. But perhaps poor sleep is the reason you keep skipping exercise. Then sleep is the weak link.
Or:
Learning: 2
Planning: 2
If you never schedule learning time, planning may be the underlying issue.
Ask: If I improved only one of these habits, which one would make the others easier?
That is usually where you should start.
Choose one improvement target
Do not turn the Habit Test into a complete life redesign. Pick one habit. Then define the smallest meaningful improvement.
If sleep is a 2, you do not need to create a perfect evening routine immediately. You may simply decide:
In bed by 11 p.m. on four weekdays.
If focus is a 2:
One 60-minute distraction-free work block every morning.
If family connection is a 2:
One protected evening together each week.
Your objective is not to jump from 2 to 5 overnight. Move from 2 to 3. Then reassess.
Define what the next score looks like
A rating becomes useful when you know what improvement means.
For example:
Sleep
Current score: 2
A 3 means:
- minimum seven hours on most weekdays;
- no phone in bed;
- consistent sleep time four nights per week.
Now you have a target. Without that definition, “improve sleep” remains vague. Do the same for your selected habit.
Ask: What would need to be consistently true for me to give this a score one point higher?
That creates the action plan.
Retest after four weeks
Do not score your habits every day. That creates noise. Give the change enough time to become visible. After four weeks, repeat the test.
Ask:
Did the target habit improve?
Did anything else improve because of it?
Is this still the biggest weak link?
You may discover that fixing one habit exposes another. That is normal. Position assessment is not about reaching a permanent perfect score. It is about repeatedly identifying what limits you most right now.
Application
Create a list of 5–10 habits that materially affect your life.
Rate each from 1–5 based on the last few weeks.
Then:
- Highlight every score of 1 or 2.
- Ask which weak habit creates the biggest knock-on effect.
- Choose only one habit to improve.
- Define what a score one point higher would look like.
- Select one concrete behavior that would create that improvement.
- Run it for four weeks.
- Retake the Habit Test.
Use this format:
Habit: ______
Current score: ___ / 5
Evidence: ______
What the next score looks like: ______
One change: ______
Keep the exercise diagnostic. You are not trying to judge yourself. You are trying to see the system clearly enough to improve it.
Summary
You do not always need another habit. Sometimes you need to identify which existing habit is weakening everything else. Rate the important ones. Use evidence. Find the weak link. Define what one-point improvement looks like. Then fix one thing at a time.
A better routine often starts with a better diagnosis.
Till Next Time,
Maciej
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