The two day Rule
Not everyone is equal, and we do not necessarily share the same dreams but there's one common thing that we all agree on. We do everything to make something happen when we believe in it.
In the previous article we covered the 3 steps to build a new habit that sticks for life. We understood that consistency and accountability are keys to build habits. But there's one thing that i didn't cover and is important as well. We do not have to beat ourselves up.
Yes. We are allowed to fail. We can give up and come back, because we'll learn from that experience and adapt our new plan. Nobody owes us a win or lose. In fact there's no losing, there's a win or a learning.
I never lose. I either win or learn - Nelson Mandela
I always struggled with sustaining a new routine or habit. And i always hate it and was judging myself too much. Trying a new workout routine, trying to lose extra pounds gained during a break or learning a new skill. I was always dropping and coming back few days later with a new plan or with the same energy as at first.
What i was not aware of, that's what helped me to build something sustainable for life. I carry a 14 years of fitness and diet, 5 years of surfing and 3 years to date of video making.
This is all due to one technique that i'm sharing with you today - The Two Day Rule.
As you're practicing on a daily basis and trying a new habit, your brain will do everything to trick you and get you back to the comfort zone. This translates in days when you'll be procrastinating and you don't feel you want to do it. You think you can take a break and try again tomorrow. But as tomorrow comes, you still think you need an additional break, and days will be adding and you drop it by the end.
If this is something you have faced in the past, the first thing to do is to do not let go right away. Let's take workouts as example. If you trained 3 days in a row and your plan is to workout 5 times this week, and today you don't want to do that 4th workout. I suggest you don't take a break and you just do it. Just don't quit. As i said, our brains will trick us through the process and will have the illusion of needing a break. By not letting go and pushing through, we'll learn how to separate a need of a break from an illusion. By pushing through today, you teach yourself how to persevere and reward yourself by break the next day.
The same applies to diets, learning, project management, etc.
This is how you can keep the momentum going and you'll be able then to notice a progress in the long run while enjoying the process.
Patience is everything.
I'm a big advocate of this technique. I apply in many fields and to be honest this is how i keep going forward and achieve as much as i can.
If you are not aware yet of my new challenge, i'm creating on a daily basis a video while i'm talking to camera in order to overcome the fear and weirdness of the situation. I'm allowing myself to take short breaks so i can adjust my strategy and get back stronger.
I encourage you to give it a try and add it to your plan. And remember. You're your only enemy. We tend to over judge ourselves. We don't need that. We have enough time to keep trying and make it by the end of day. If we don't succeed, we'll learn from it and we'll move forward :)
Question of the day: How long you dropped this new thing you were trying ? And how was it challenging ?
Let me know in comments and please share this with a friend that needs it.
Sincerely,
Yassine