Creating A New Habit? Start Over Every Day
Creating a new habit can be hard work, especially if it is meant to replace an old habit. Habits are mighty powerful and they will resist any disruption. I like to think of an old habit as someone lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to trip me and take over again.
So my new habit is daily exercise. I have decided that I want to get into shape for dance performance in a few months (and for my ego, of course). When I made the decision, I was really motivated and the first week I exercised happily every day. I made it fun by challenging myself to do a little more every day and logging my progress. Then some work happened, some holiday happened and the flow stopped. I started missing a day or two days of exercise and I could rationalize it to myself. The lurker tripped me and was back in power.
So I decided this was not what I wanted and I started over. This time, however, I decided to start over every day. In my morning ritual I make the decision to exercise every day and I tell myself why it’s important. This gives me the motivation for at least another day, but to tell you the truth, the motivation hasn’t left since I started doing this.
The key to doing this is making your decisions vivid and strong. What will you do? How will you do it? Why will you do it? What is your outcome? Your motivation, your drive, should come from your decision, and you renew that drive every day.
What’s your decision for today?
