Tucking yourself tightly under the covers so nothing can get you. Skipping the bottom two stairs. Having a strict dressing order you thoughtlessly adhere to -- underwear, pants, shirt, socks, jacket. We all have weird habits. And oddly enough, we all have habits we didn't even TRY to form. So why, then, is it so hard to tackle the good stuff? Meditating. Drinking more water. Getting 8 hours of shut-eye. Working out. Why do we fail at the juicy lifestyle habits.....and yet buckle our seat-belt when we're moving the car a mere 5 feet? Well, here's the glue, my friends, that will stick those good habits to the "done and done" column: 1. Hit the specifics Who, what, when, where, and why. Set a goal, and then Sherlock Holmes the shit out of it. Get specific, and make a plan. True story: Researchers found that people are 3x more likely to exercise if they make a specific plan for when and where they will actually do it. Put it in your calendar, and get yourself psyched to play "Pickle Ball with Geoff." 2. Rinse and repeat New habits are haaaaaarrrrrd to form. And the biggest reason WHY they're so hard to form? They require effort. They require conscious choice. They require you to make a decision. Over time.....and only over time.......a new habit becomes routine....and at that point, the process is more or less mindless and automatic. So here's the thing. You need to be consistent. You need to repeat that behaviour over and over and OVER again. And eventually.....and we're talking an average of 66 days.....that behaviour will become a true blue habit that you no longer have to think about. 3. Choose the 2-bite brownie We all get gung-ho at times. "I am NEVER eating fast food again!" 2 weeks later? You're hitting the drive-thru incognito, pretending like you forgot about that bold proclamation....."cheeseburger with extra pickles please." All too often, we make the mistake of biting off more than we can chew. Setting the bar waaaayyyyy to high. And then act surprised when we don't stick the landing. Focus on small. Focus on manageable. And allow yourself to build that momentum. Start with nailing one workout a week. A 9:30 pm bedtime on Sundays. A freshly-squeezed lemonade for this Friday's happy-hour. Be consistent. Then build from there. Health and happiness are not short-term projects. They are a way of life. And if you use the right strategies, and put in the work, you will see tangible results. Results just as tangible as consistently stopping the microwave 1-second before it beeps, so that you can pretend you're defusing a bomb. I've got your back.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
August 2020
Categories
All
|