Day 14: Creating a lasting habit

I used to struggle going to the gym unless I worked with a private coach.

Then I discovered kickboxing and boxing classes.

Initially, I would keep finding excuses to miss one class after each other.

This continued until I made a commitment:

I would go to classes at least twice a week, for at least one month.

Something strange happened.

I started going automatically, without much thought.

I began pushing myself in the classes to get the most from my workout.

Suddenly, boxing became a part of my schedule and lifestyle.

The reason habits are so effective is because even though they can be hard initially, they become easier and easier over time until you do them automatically and without any effort.

For tomorrow, I invite you to pick ONE practice from the last two weeks that will make the biggest difference right now in your life- if you did it consistently, at least for the remainder of the time that you are stuck at home.

Here are the links to the last 13 challenges:

• Day 1: Your 24 hour News Diet
• Day 2: Calming the mind
• Day 3: The Transitional Routine
• Day 4: Start Moving Again!
• Day 5: Prioritize Sleep
• Day 6: Enjoy Your Food (without over-eating)
• Day 7: Deepen your dearest relationships
• Day 8: Reconnect with old friends
• Day 9: Do one act of kindness
• Day 10: Thinking Time
• Day 11: Visualizing your future self
• Day 12: Powerblocks
• Day 13: Daily Questions

Think about how you can turn this practice into a daily habit for the remainder of this crisis.

This might mean:

• Watching the news just once a day and reading instead.
• Meditating daily
• Using the transitional routine between activities, or once every hour.
• Doing a daily workout.
• Prioritizing your sleep.
• Eating at least one meal a day, mindfully.
• Spend quality time with your partner and/ or kids.
• Regularly call dear friends or family members.
• Do one daily act of kindness.
• Introduce a daily session of thinking time.
• Spend time every day visualizing your most important goals.
• Use Powerblocks to get some work done.
• Ask powerful questions every morning and evening to prime your mood and your focus.

Most of these practices can be done in less than half an hour, but it nevertheless requires a bit of discipline initially to make them part of your daily routine.

To help you do this, let me share four recommendations:

First, define your habit as precisely as possible.

• You can define a specific time and set yourself reminders (i.e I will work out every morning at 9 am, for 15 minutes, by using the Sworkit app). 
• You can combine your new habit with an existing one.
• You can create additional reminders, like an alarm on your phone, or notes on your mirror or on your fridge.
• You can share your habit with anyone living with you, so they can give you a nudge.
• Attach your new habit to an existing one (e.g after I did school work with the kids in the morning, I will work out).
• Remove any triggers if you are trying to stop doing something (i.e hide the remote of your TV) so you gain a few seconds to resist any temptations.

Second, make your habit easily doable:

Instead of committing to becoming the next Schwarzenegger, start with a workout routine that is not too difficult and easy to follow through. The beauty about habits is that they get easier with time, and then you can gradually step things up

Third, be delusional about your habit:

The most difficult part about a new routine is getting started.

For example, if your goal is to work out, getting the first 5 minutes under your belt will be the most crucial part- once you have started everything becomes easier. 

So when you don’t feel like doing your exercises, picture the benefits of feeling more energized and healthier than ever before, and looking so fit that everyone compliments you, once you can leave your home again…

Even if these images are exaggerated, they will help you overcome that initial resistance that makes building new habits so hard for most of us.  

Finally, design a way to stay accountable and motivated.

This might mean weighing yourself daily if your goal is to lose weight– and rewarding yourself when you hit weekly targets.

Or tick off your calendar each day when you completed your habit, and celebrate every time you succeeded to follow through with your habit, for 5 consecutive days.

By defining your habit as clearly as you can, making it easy and doable, being delusional about your desired outcome and benefits you will achieve, and defining a way to keep yourself accountable and motivated, you will be able to integrate your favorite practice from our 14-day challenge into your lifestyle.

If you have any questions I am here to help– I really want you to nail this one so just leave a comment down below and let me know! 

Warm regards,

Allon