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What are Deliberate Patterns?

I wrote an introduction to the idea of Deliberate Patterns and why they are better than habits here:

Stop trying to change your habits and start playing with Deliberate Patterns instead - Sam Spurlin

A Pattern Language for Living

“A pattern language is an organized and coherent set of patterns, each of which describes a problem and the core of a solution that can be used in many ways within a specific field of expertise. The term was coined by architect Christopher Alexander and popularized by his 1977 book A Pattern Language.

What might it look like to develop a pattern language for living?

Some of the most meaningful, productive, and engaging work each of us can do is building our own pattern language for living well. There is no universal language. My pattern language for living will look different than your pattern language for living. What we share, though, is the process by which we can experiment and develop these languages for ourselves.

“What makes a Deliberate Pattern a pattern?”

• Repeatable over time within a person
• Composable and repeatable across people
• NOT universal like Christopher Alexander’s architectural pattern language.
  • This is why Deliberate Patterns must be paired with a disciplined personal experimentation practice.
  • A pattern that works for one person may not work at all for another person.
  • A pattern that worked at one time or context may not work at another time/context.
  • Even a pattern that works consistently will likely evolve with you over time (e.g. waking/sleeping consistently but shifting the specific times those things happen).

“What makes a Deliberate Pattern worth trying?”

Important to not be overly precious about what you’re willing to try. Almost every thing is worth at least trying. The “goal” such that there is one isn’t to adopt every pattern you try, it’s to better understand yourself. With that goal in mind it’s almost impossible to pick a “bad” pattern to try. The point of Deliberate Patterns is to encourage yourself to pay more careful attention to how your life is going and whether you like what’s happening.

• Notice and follow your curiosity
• Try radical departures