Senior School

Like many people, I recently read Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results, by James Clear. In this easy-to-read book, Clear articulates a simple idea; that positive changes in life are typically not the result of grand gestures, but rather the compounded effect of individually insignificant habits and choices. His thesis reflects the well-known adage, that behaviours become habit, habit becomes character, and character becomes destiny.

As well as making some changes in my own life (making better choices around chocolate, for example), I found it encouraging to reflect on many of our practices here at School. We uphold a great many small, traditional practices here that in and of themselves are objectively unimportant. Wearing the correct School-socks would be an example of such a practice. Obviously, a student can learn in socks of any colour (or no socks at all), so why does it matter? I heard an alumnus give a great answer to this question a few years ago. They described their daily childhood routine of:

Having to remember to put their socks in the washing basket at home;
Being responsible for making sure they were washed and dry on time;
Having to find each sock’s partner and put them away;
Getting dressed ready for School each day.

While this may seem mundane, the alumnus spoke about the character traits they had developed as a result; diligent attention to detail, personal responsibility and pride in presentation. This young person attributed much of their success (founding a highly successful publicly-listed company before the age of 30) to their childhood discipline of School-socks… but more importantly to the character traits this discipline helped them to develop.

So, I encourage both parents and students alike to read Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results (it was first recommended to me by a Year 10 student), and to reflect on the habits that are the stuff of daily life. I also encourage families to reflect on and support the many small practices we uphold here at BMGS. If behaviour leads to habit, habits lead to character, and character creates our destiny… what are the habits we should be growing today?

Mr Owen Laffin

Deputy Head - Head of Senior School