Here I am are, a week after I decided to step up and take responsibility for all the aspects of my life. I had picked out all the things I wanted to change in my everyday life, and determined new time-saving habits to put in place. There were ten tasks I put in place to acheive each day. I am a self-professed statistics nerd, so I made a chart to tally up my level of success.
I'll be honest, week one wasn't great. I only achieved 55 points out of a possible 100 points. For a first attempt, that was not too bad. I did manage to go cold turkey of playing computer card games (my addiction to FreeCell and Vegas Solitaire was eating up a chunk of time every week) and get the ball rolling on some new habits.
A wise woman once told me that you will change when your desire to change is greater than your desire to remain the same. It comes down to despising the pain more than effort to make the change. If you are not already at that point, then take a little time to revel in the muck that is your current bad habit, so that you can truly appreciate the value of breaking out of it.
It is unrealistic to expect to be able to change a bunch of habits at once. Professional organiser Marcia Ramsland suggests that you cannot do it all at once. She recommends breaking one habit at a time.
Anything that is measurable is changeable. Studies show that realistically it takes twenty-one times to change a habit. Pick one daily habit you would like to change. Start by creating a chart with a spot for each one of the twenty-one days.
When looking at the anatomy of the rule of twenty-one, four levels start to appear during the process of creating a new habit:
1-4 times of doing a task
"I could do it if I just tried harder."
Then old habits kick in with time pressures and stress. The trick is to keep going anyway.
5-10 times of doing a task
"I recognise the obstacles to doing it successfully."
Then the old habits kick in again and you start to feel like a failure. Just keep going.
11-15 times of doing a task
"I need to revisit my desired goal and focus on success."
Old habits will still try to thwart you, but now you are determined to persist. Keep going.
16-21 times of doing a task
"The goal is in sight. I know why I want it. It is worth pushing through to success."
You did it! Celebrate and enjoy your new habit.
By charting your progress, you can see the measured improvements you make which will help you move towards your goals. For example, you might set yourself the challenge of exercising for 10 hours a week. Every day, focus on doing something towards that goal. Anything will do. But you must doing something towards it.
If you look at the levels of habit changing above - the key along each step of the way is always keeping going. If you keep pushing through it, you should see improvements each week. If you take a backwards step, forgive yourself, remind yourself why you want the change, and then keep marching towards your goal.
If you get there in your 21 days - congratulations! If not, keep pushing! Once you've reached your target, do it another twenty-one times to ensure permanent success. The best way to maintain a new habit is to strive for a "no-exceptions policy." Keep at it every day!
Motivation is what gets you started.
Habit is what keeps you going.
~ Jim Rohn
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