As you may know, I decided this year that I wanted to develop at least 8 new habits this year.  So I started a group on Facebook suggesting we start with two and then add two new ones each month for four months.  Which was a good plan because it's doable.  But I started with 8 so now I'm maintaining ten.

Here are two things I learned from two separate podcasts I listened to recently.

The first is that you just gotta do the bare minimum every single day to form a habit.  This means that if the habit I forming is to walk for exercise every day you just have to make it a habit to get the tennis shoes on and walk for a Minute a day to start.   There's power in momentum.

The second is that you can add a little bit more to each habit as you go along.  The podcast I heard this morning talks about how every person who is the best in the world at what they do didn't suddenly break a record.  They just practiced daily and each day went a Tiny Bit farther, pushed a tiny bit more, lifted a few ounces more, pushing themself day by day to do a little more until they became the best in the world.

It's interesting how this works.  Let me give you an example.

Since COVID hit I have been watching way too much TV.  So I decided that I was going to read 20 minutes a day this year.  I was just going to form a reading habit.  So before I can turn on the TV I have to read for 20 minutes.  My goal is 60 books this year and I have already read 17.  Why?  Because when I grab the book (or the iPad) and get started, sometimes I don't want to stop.

Last year I started walking and my goal was 2500 steps a day.  I increased it by 500 a week and by the time I got to August and had the stress fracture in my foot I was walking 9500 steps a day.  I was walking farther than I had ever thought possible.

Here's another example.  I decided to do at least one thing each day that would declutter or clean something in the house.  Typically Bart does the cleaning and my areas (which aren't very big -- my desk, two shelves of one bookcase, my nightstand, half the dresser, and about 1/3 of the closet) get cluttered.   (I am a minimalist -- the rest of the space in the house belongs to Bart and his stuff.  He's the "homemaker" -- I make the money.  I know, weird, huh?  But it's how we role and I don't need a lot of space.

Anyway, you wouldn't believe how much doing one thing a day and having a 43 day streak has done.  All of those areas are really tidy... and they stay tidy.  I have even washed our toilet a few times ... it's kinda crazy how much difference a few minutes a day makes.

If you want to form a new habit, just pick something and do it every single day -- even if it's just a little bit.  And you'll be surprised how much you get done.

Next month I'm adding two more habits (actually replacing one).  I'm going to drink nothing but water for a month (actually for the 40 days of lent).  And I'm going to replace my "exercise daily" with a step goal of 2500 again with the idea of increasing that every week for the month.  Who knows... maybe if I keep adding by the week I'll make it back to where I was last year before I hurt my foot.

All this stuff is really empowering to me.  This month I went back to strict Keto and I've lost 17 pounds in 2 weeks (of course, I gained twenty the month before, so it really doesn't count for much).  But the daily streaks and increasing a little bit each day work for me.

Maybe it will for you.   Reach out if you want to know more -- I'd be happy to help!