How to Make Good Habits Stick

"You should be very scared to fail to execute a habit, even once. By failing to execute, potentially you're not just losing a minor bit of progress, but rather threatening the cumulative benefits you've accrued by establishing a habit. This is a huge deal and should not be treated lightly. So make your habits relatively easy, but never miss doing them."        - Tynan from Superhuman by Habit

Powerful Stuff!

So the key is to make your habits relatively easy, but never miss doing them.

Lets take meditation for an example:

You have decided to start meditating. You start with one minute. Get good at meditation for one minute before you add another minute. Then get good at meditating for 2 minutes before you add the 3rd minute. Don't go from 1 minute to 10 minutes. It is always better to start small and to never miss a day.

So what will happen if you miss a day?

If all possible, try not to miss a day. What about if you miss 2 days?

Missing 2 days is a habit suicide. If missing one day reduces your chances of long-term success by a small amount like 5%, missing 2 days reduces it by 40% or so. 3 days missed and you may as well start over again. At that point you have lost momentum and have made it too easy to skip in the future.

I just started to jog again this week after a couple of months of just walking instead of jogging. I did miss one day, so I made sure that I got back on track the following day. I made it a priority the following day. I am sure you have heard the saying.....

 "If you want to do something bad enough you will find a way....and if you don't want to do it, you will find and excuse."

After missing one day this week I made sure I didn't come up with some lame excuse and instead I prioritized and made sure I got my jogging done the following day.

Plan your day around the habit for the next day. Decide specifically when you are going to do it and come up with a solution to problems in advance, particularly whatever problem prevented you from executing in the first place. Write it down!

When your new habit becomes automatic, it usually takes about a month for it to happen. You don't even have to use any of your willpower to execute your new habit.

 

Karin Glannstam - Personal Success Coach

www.karinglannstam.com