Campus newcomers set goals together

Key is self-discipline, not showing off

Chu Zhaohui: a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences

What makes daka, or clocking in, a popular thing is that young people think it's fashionable when they see their friends' updates on WeChat Moments and want to follow others. So it's spreading rapidly from person to person via social media.

The other reason for the popularity is because many people are not disciplined enough and they need others to supervise them when they are trying to develop a habit or achieve some goals.

However, the key to habit formation is self-discipline, so when the habit is developed, it's better to stop posting the updates on social media. In the short run, it may help in developing habits, but in the long run, it will reduce the individual's degree of autonomous learning.

Before they decide to share their habit-forming process via social media, they should distinguish whether there really is a need to do it, or whether they should get rid of the psychology of comparison with others or are just showing off.

There is also a daka trend where people like to follow others to visit some popular tourist sites or eat some popular snacks and then post the pictures via social media, saying they are fulfilling some goal. It's a kind of showing off and passive if they do not consider whether they really want to do it.

If all kinds of things are realized via supervision by others, one's own time will be greatly reduced, and eventually the way that helps you form habits will become a mere formality.

Chu Zhaohui spoke with Zhang Yi and Ning Yuqi.