ROUTINES MAKE YOU BORING RIGHT?

We have all seen it before, right? We have that one person in the office who is ‘Set in their ways’ or they have rigid routines that they must do day in day out to maintain their fitness goals or whatever it might be. You know the ones in the office who never stay out late with the rest of the team at the pub because they must get up early the next day for the gym, and all their other weird rituals. Yeah that one, the weirdo, the health nut, the grandma.

They are trapped in their routines and they can’t live life, right? Why would anyone choose this life?

Well see this is the really weird thing, Routines and Habits actually give you more freedom.

No seriously this isn’t click bait, they actually give you the ability to live life on your terms.

How you ask?

Routines and strict positive habits provide people with a platform of which to dictate their life.

Some people habituate their entire life and others just some aspects, but to be fair anyone who has any strict positive habits usually has most aspects of their lives set up with great habits from Health to Social to Business. However, some people are just super strict with their health and fitness habits whilst others are super productive with just their business habits.

These habits and routines they put in place allow them to get done in a short amount of time a huge amount of positive benefit that compounds over time providing them huge benefits in the particular discipline that they have created the habits around. These compounded gains then give them back time to do the things that they really want in life.

Let’s take Health & Fitness as an example, those with the best routine for their fitness usually, but not always, get up early and go to the gym before work so that no matter what life throws at them they have gotten their exercise done for the day. Then that conscious decision to go to the gym first thing in the morning also helps dictate other decisions throughout the day like what they will eat and even as far as how productive they will be in the morning with work. All of this activity compounds over time to help them become extremely healthy, strong and fit compared to the average population.

The additional energy and positive mindset this exercise and healthy living gives them, lets them perform better at work, it allows them to have more positive interactions with colleagues, friends and loved ones, it also gives them the buffer to occasionally be able to eat anything they want and not feel guilty. If they decide they want Fried Chicken today then they can have a bucket of it, as they know this isn’t the norm this is just a one off. They also have the energy to play with their kids more and spend better quality time with them during those crucial early years as they grow and develop and before they hit the dreaded teenage stage.

This same process applies with whatever positive habits and routines you implement, but the catch is, it also applies to all the bad habits you introduce but in reverse. Using the same example if you keep skipping exercise and start having fried chicken 5 of 7 days a week there is a compounding effect with this too but towards a more unhealthy lifestyle that then leaves you with less energy, your mood is affected and the quality of the time you get to spend with family slowly declines.

Well then, how do we build these habits?

Your first step is to understand I am by no means an authority on this and you should read a real book about it, maybe Atomic Habits by James Clear or The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

However, if you still want my anecdotal tips read on.

1.      START SMALL

Make sure when you begin, your habits are easily accomplished, such as instead of starting with, ‘I’m going to go to the Gym every morning’, you might start with ‘I’m going to put my exercise clothes on every morning’. It’s about tricking your feeling brain into doing something it would otherwise fight your rational brain on. It’s much less commitment to put your exercise clothes on each day then it is to say you will go to the gym very day.

2.      BUILD ON TOP OF OLD HABITS

As you conquer these new habits make them a little harder, so now that you have your shoes on every morning, start trying to head to the gym each morning. Be sure to tell yourself you don’t need to workout you can just go and stretch or even just to shower. But build the habit of getting to the gym and then once that is locked in step it up again. It’s called Habit Stacking.

After “Current Habit” I will do “New Habit”

3.      USE A HABIT TRACKER

Get a calendar or app or whatever works for you and make a big mark in it to acknowledge the streak. You also want to be able to share it with others which is why calendars are great as everyone can see them. Every time you complete a habit you get to make a mark on the calendar. As this unfolds you will be hooked on keeping the streak going and two, you wont want to see gaps in the tracker.

4.      GET SOMEONE TO HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE

Having other people hold you accountable really helps with sticking to things, as humans hate letting other people down. You might use your partner or flat mate or a family member, whatever works for you. If you really need motivation, then create a contract with them that you pay them $100 each time you miss the habit.

5.      USE THE TWO IN A ROW RULE

The two in row rule states that you can break the habit whenever you want but you can’t do it twice in a row. So, for instance, you might miss the gym on Monday, but you can’t miss it Tuesday, then you might miss it Wednesday and so on. What this does it helps you not feel like a failure when life gets in the way and makes you miss a day. Instead you just have to get up and get back on in time for the next checkpoint.

This list isn’t an exhaustive list of tips on creating habits, but it definitely helps get you started and like most things in life, the most successful habits are the ones you actually start.

But this is LinkedIn how does this apply to business?

Well I probably need to write a whole article on this but to be honest you know what you need to do for what ever it is you are trying to achieve, you just need to break it down in to manageable tasks like I did above for going to the gym and prioritise and then follow the steps above.

Reach out if you want help with this process, but most importantly start today so the magical benefits of compounding interest can take hold an help you grow exponentially.