Plan better, and more encouragingly, run a little more today than yesterday. Do a little more than yesterday, even if it’s just a little more. Read 21 pages instead of 20, walk for 11 minutes instead of 10, etc. Gradually increasing progress is the goal.
Increasing progress is part of the reason I don’t break new habits, and I recommend not giving up, at least for the first 90 days. Your body can benefit from rest days if your routine involves exercise, but don’t stop for the first 90 days. Depending on the study you want to cite, it takes anywhere from 60 to 243 days to build a new habit. I got lucky with about 90 and would highly recommend going at least that long on first try.
On the internet, there is a fake story about Jerry Seinfeld that is said to give advice to software developer and will be comedian Brad Isaac. Isaac asked him if he had any tips for being a comic. Seinfeld’s answer also helped build the habit of writing jokes.
That’s pretty obvious, but Seinfeld has a technique. He reported Isaac took a large wall calendar and said that every time he sat down to work, he should make a big X for that day. “After a few days, you will have a string. Just keep maintaining and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll love seeing that necklace, especially when you have a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is not to break the chain.”
Even if it’s contrived, it’s still great advice. It’s like something a Seinfeld character would say.
Try reducing friction even more
One of the reasons it’s so hard for us to change our habits is that we’re emotionally invested in the habits we have. I don’t like to do anything in the morning. I don’t want to read/workout/cook/etc. It is very difficult to overcome this inertia and resistance to change, especially since this resistance is often not fully conscious.
This is part of the reason why I avoid recommendations about stopping habits you don’t like (get Clear’s book if you’re interested in stopping a bad habit; he has a lot of good advice. on that score) and focus on creating new habits – less emotional baggage in general.
But what if you could ease your emotional baggage? That way, you can stop focusing on specific habits and train your willpower instead. This is a common theme in older texts, from Catholic meditation guides to New Thought Movement of the early 20th century.
Willpower is like a muscle, and you need to build it through strength training. I’ve seen countless versions of this exercise, but they all look the same: Sit down in a chair facing the wall. Choose a spot on the wall. Stand up from the chair and touch the point on the wall. Return to the chair and sit down again. Rinse and repeat. Most books recommend that you start doing this 10 times and work your way up from there.
