Category: Building Habits

Don’t measure your motivation levels before you do the thing… your mind will be consumed and distorted with lies.

Think about all the things you say to yourself before you have to workout, or meditate, or read that book, or start that project, or do deep stretching… It’s probably something along the lines of:

• “You’ve been so good lately… you deserve a day off.”
• “You’re so busy today… better to skip and get back to it tomorrow.”
• “You didn’t really sleep that well… today should be a rest day instead of that other day.”

It’s almost as though that little devil on your shoulder gets the megaphone and tries to spread misinformation and lies to distract or dissuade you from doing the tasks that’ll put you temporarily outside of your comfort zone.

…Contrast this with what’s going on in your head after you complete the task. It’s probably something along the lines of:

• “That was so good. I deserved that.”
• “So glad I didn’t skip. That was amazing.”
• “I feel so much better now that I’ve got that behind me.”

…There’s a whole lot less mental chatter and whole lot more clarity.

THIS is when you should measure your motivation levels towards the thing. If you’re still resentful, upset, and/or frustrated about the self-improvement tasks after you’ve finished it, then, yes, I’d say it’s time to reflect and make some changes.

But, don’t make a decision about something that’s long-term good for you without completion clarity.

And because I’ve been planning for days like this, I knew exactly what to do.

Today that was MoveMe Weekly, short walk, foam rolling, and this email.

I cancelled everything else and have been heavy sleeping, drinking as many fluids as I can manage, and vegetating on the couch.

Healing is my top priority. And if I can keep the streak alive in some of my other priority areas… by doing my premeditated minimum viable action(s)… I won’t have to “heal” any broken streaked habits, too.

One of my goals this year is to write one long(er) form article each week that I can either publish to MoveMe Quotes (to help with SEO) or submit to brand/magazine publications (to help spread my words to new audiences).

The first four weeks, I did just that.

The past two weeks, however, I failed.

I got caught up writing an article that I just couldn’t finish. And I let it stall me out.

This is how it goes for so many who are working hard to integrate resolutions into their lifestyle. Strong start followed by legit obstacle followed by stall out.

…But what stall outs really are are moments of truth.

…And it’s how we choose to respond to these moments that makes all the long-term difference.

Either we let the stall stall us all the way out… or we figure out a way to keep moving forward despite the stall out(s).

And so this week, I decided to pivot. Rather than try and submit longer form articles to other brand/magazine publications—I’m going to double down on publishing new articles each week to MoveMe Quotes.

Publishing to MMQ is inside my control and much more efficient whereas getting published elsewhere is not and was taking too much of my time. And while SEO might not be as “sexy” as getting published elsewhere—it’s the process of producing that’s most important.

Onward.

Your Turn: How are your resolutions going? If not so good, how can you pivot to get back on track… this is your moment of truth… how can you move forward with (and build) resilience?

This Sunday, there’s a playoff football game that cuts into my usual workout time.

So today, I’m planning my alternative.

If I wait until Sunday, I’ll probably get swept up in the hype and skip it altogether.

But, if I know what’s coming, I can arrange my day in such a way where “workout” gets put into the best possible slot given the unique forecast of events.

“Winging it” on busy and exciting days isn’t a good strategy.

We have to make time for the things we know are going to make us.

…Even on—especially on—days we consider to be “special” or “out of the ordinary.”

Because as soon as we consider that to be a viable excuse…

We might suddenly see more and more “special” and “out of the ordinary” days creeping into our schedules.

Not because we’re lazy, per se, but because that’s what excuses do. Like weeds, they only ceaselessly grow once planted. So you can either choose to not plant the damn thing in the first place or you can deal with the thing as it grows and regrows and relentlessly grows time and time again despite your best efforts to kill it off.

…I know which option I’m choosing.

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P.s. I’m looking to submit longer-form pieces of my writing to like-minded, like-themed blogs, magazines, and publications… Any suggestions on where might be a good fit?

I have holiday hangover.

Mostly from eating more than usual and working out less than usual.

And it has me feeling self-conscious and crappy.

At a previous time in my life, I would channel all that energy into one mega intense workout to try and make up for the holiday dip.

But now, I try to do the opposite. I try not to run from it… I try to *really* feel that crappy feeling… And I try to convert it into a more sustainable source of energy. A source of energy that carries me through a month’s worth of workouts rather than one or two really intense ones.

Just like you can’t eat one healthy meal to make up for a week’s worth of crap, you can’t do one mega workout to make up for a week’s worth of inactivity.

In fact, from my experience, it tends to work proportionally in the opposite direction. One week of inactivity is made up with one month of consistent workouts. One month of crappy eating is made up with one quarter (of a year) of healthy eating.

Dont let this disappoint you.

To feel disappointment would mean you expect health and fitness to yo-yo… one week off, one week on; one month off, one month on; one year off, one year on… which would be a mistake. The goal should be 95% on and 5% off—ish. As in, 2-4 weeks per year of being off and the rest in routine, building healthy habits, and riding the wave of your momentum.

In short: Let the holiday hangover fuel you—not just for tomorrow—but for a chunk of this new year.