Marcus Hale · The Habitus System
You’re not lazy.
You’re missing a system.
One habit a month. A different person by December.
12 Virtues to Achieve a Life of Success is a year-long system for building character, reaching your goals and finding fulfilment, one powerful habit at a time.
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Not lazy.
Just missing a system.
If you’ve read plenty of self-help books before but struggle to translate information into action, or you find your motivation to create positive change fades after a few weeks, it’s not that you’re lazy. You just haven’t found an effective system. This book offers exactly that.
The Habitus System
Modern habit science. Ancient wisdom.
Over the last six years, I have combined modern scientific understanding of habit formation with ancient wisdom on the value of virtue to create the Habitus System, which is made up of the following elements:
- 01Highly effective habit formation and tracking techniques
- 02The Pareto Principle, aka 80/20, to optimize your effort and your results
- 03SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound, broken down into monthly, weekly and daily steps
- 04The Six Pillars of Success: Personal, Relationships, Career, Health, Wealth, Mastery
- 05The 12 Virtues: wholesome habits that help you achieve your goals and leave lasting behavioral benefits
With this system, you can build yourself a life to be proud of, without the wasted effort or loss of direction. This journey is about building a solid foundation that will reward you with a life of purpose, meaning, abundance and fulfillment.
In it you will learn
This is the essential guide to living the Good Life and achieving a holistic sense of success.
How to turn your dreams and ambitions into manageable goals and milestones
How to adopt killer habits that highly correlate with the world’s most successful people
How to imbue your character with virtuous behaviors that will last long after you have read the book
The calendar
One virtue a month. Twelve months to a life of character.
The habits stack. By the end of the year, they’re simply who you are.
Each gold block is the habit you add that month.
Month by month
The 12 Virtues
- Month 1AmbitionThe virtue of dreaming big
- Month 2FocusThe virtue of staying on track no matter what
- Month 3CourageThe virtue to remain confident against any hurdle
- Month 4DisciplineThe virtue of impeccable work ethic
- Month 5CreativityThe virtue of finding elegant solutions to problems
- Month 6VitalityThe virtue of staying young at heart and inquisitive
- Month 7PurposeThe virtue of having a reason to get up in the morning
- Month 8StoicismThe virtue of accepting reality
- Month 9AttitudeThe virtue of good character
- Month 10CommunicationThe virtue of being well understood
- Month 11IntegrityThe virtue of a great standup reputation
- Month 12CompetitivenessThe virtue of prospering from your works
The framework
The Six Pillars of Success
- PersonalCharacter, purpose and the inner life
- RelationshipsFamily, friends and the community around you
- CareerWork that gives you purpose, direction and meaning
- HealthEnergy, strength and quality of life
- WealthAssets, financial security and abundance
- MasteryYour unique skills that make you valuable
The newsletter
Claim your free digital content.
Join the newsletter and start with the Habitus Starter Kit.
Every week, I’ll send one short email with practical guidance to try, a closer look at ideas from the Habitus System, and timeless wisdom from the great success stories to encourage you when life gets in the way.
- Digital Poster PackPreviews included.
- Habit Tracking SpreadsheetTrack your habits, goals and progress month by month.
- Habitus System 1-PagerThe whole system on a single page.
About the author
Hi, I’m Marcus.
For years I was obsessed with success. I had a good career, a decent wage and great friends, yet a quiet voice kept telling me there should be more. So I read every self-help book I could find, and nothing stuck.
The turning point came when I started reading older books and noticed that for most of history, success meant a life of virtue: wisdom, courage, discipline, purpose and service. That’s what I was missing.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Who is this book for?
Someone brand new to personal development or who has struggled to implement meaningful change.
How do we define success?
Success means uplifting each of the six main pillars of success. Pursuing virtue leads to fulfillment and satisfaction. That is our focus, rather than purely material abundance.
Why is the book structured this way?
Journaling and habit tracking are powerful habits for making positive changes stick. For that reason, each virtue is something to focus on for a month, adding habits gradually, so by the end of the year you will be a transformed person.
Is this book based on scientific research?
Yes. We combine leading neuroscience on habit formation with timeless wisdom on virtue.
Why virtues?
We think pursuing virtue is more relevant now than ever.
How should I use this book?
Either get the 12 Virtues journals, or set up your own. Read through the book and apply each virtue one month at a time. You will learn why each virtue is essential for a life of success, then choose a habit from a list to adopt and track over the month. The habit helps you practically achieve a goal, and it imbues you with the virtue it relates to. With each new month you add another habit, and these accumulate over the course of the year. By the end of the year you will have hit your goals and added virtuous behaviors that stay with you long after reading the book.
What else will I learn?
You will learn the power of 80/20: by focusing on the small changes that have outsized impacts, you achieve more with minimal wasted effort. You will also learn goal setting and tracking, so you have practical targets to direct and motivate you throughout the year.