New Habits

Sometimes you have to change.

For whatever reason, you know you have to develop some new habits.

Like driving into a neighborhood you’ve never been in before, or walking into a room full of strangers, it take a lot of mental and sometimes physical effort.

You have to think about it, and the action itself doesn’t seem natural.

And why would it?  It’s something that is new to you.

It’s something that can be as strange and strenuous as running for 30 minutes in the cold when all you’ve done is sit on the warm sand of a beach for months.

It’s going to feel strange.

It’s going to stretch your limits, and you’re going to want to stop.

You know this new habit will make you sore tomorrow, and that’s going to suck.  You also know that soreness will soon pass, and the discomfort in the short term means you’re doing something right for the future.

It means you are getting one step closer to your goals.

For me I’ve found it takes 100 days to make something a true habit.  When I don’t have to think about it anymore.  When it’s a part of me, and I just do it.

That said, it takes a pretty big ‘why’ for me to get through those 99 mornings that suck.

Lots of mental, and physical effort, during the first 100 days to make that new behaviour stick.

You’re going to have to learn this for yourself, but what I’ve learned is the discomfort of today is a great thing, because the comfort of tomorrow will more than make up for it!