Creating Tiny Habits

 Last night I decided that I was going to go to the gym after work today. I knew that I had a fairly free afternoon and I know that it is easier to lift when I've actually eaten throughout the day. The only problem is that since Lockdown I have moved my training back to the morning. I'm typically a morning person in general and don't function so well after 4pm. Maybe it's the 28 years of teaching that means I'm worn out at the end of the day, or the fact that as a child I was always up and about, even as a teenager.  So I have found by going back to the gym in the mornings fits better for me and how I feel.

So with all real intent I decided to go to the gym in the afternoon - knowing all the reasons why I should. I can usually lift better, I'm not hungry etc etc...So what was the problem with my plan?


My habits. 

I wake up at the same time regardless. SO when I was wide awake at 5:30 I knew there was no point in even contemplating trying to go back to sleep. So up I got, pulled the gym clothes on, had my litre of warm water, picked my bag up (which had my prepared mango already in it, along with my post training supplements) and out the door I went. To end up at the gym at exactly the same time that I do every other morning. 



What makes me unique in the fact that I have such strong habits? Is it my personality type? It could be. Is it the way I think? Is it in my genes? I don't have the answers but I do know something. Not only can I create habits quickly, I can also lose bad habits very quickly. Once I decide on something then I can just stop - just like that. Again - not many people can ...or is it that I have trained myself to this? Again I don't have the answers.

But what I do know is that creating habits is essential to us progressing. And to create a habit isn't that difficult. Two fantastic reads 

 - Atomic Habits by James Clear

- Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

Everyone wants to change something about themselves. It's human nature. Part of a coaches job is to help us change something that we are not comfortable with. But there is a painful gap between what people want and what people do.  And then we blame ourselves when we can't make the change we need. What we need is a process to help us make the change. Its the approach that we are using. 

Tiny Habits is a fantastic book to help us make those changes. The behavioural change is so tiny that you don't even realise that you are creating a new habit. To be successful in our habits we need to have three things in place: - Epiphany, Change our Environment, or Change our Habits in tiny ways. 

In its most simple form - take a habit you already do and attach it to that habit. Tiny can happen straight away. And it doesn't need to be huge. Too often people aim too high - I want to lose weight... I want to ride my bike 100kms, I want to run a half marathon. How often do we set a New Years resolution only for it to filter out after the first few days. Come on - you know you have! 

Lets turn it around and make it tiny and attach it to something we already do. Fogg talks in detail about the best way to do this - I highly recommend reading his text. His ideas are so easy and so quick that habits are easy to form. 

For instance attach your habit to an after...Fogg uses this example

eg After I brush my teeth...I will floss one tooth (Note the smallest step, floss just one tooth - the new bigger habit is to floss all the teeth) BUT start tiny. 

Some of my personal habits; 

After I turn my computer off at work ... I will write in my gratitude journal 

After I have my cup of tea at night ...I will spend 1 min on my squats

After I have been to the bathroom...I will take three deep meaningful breaths

After I have cleaned up for dinner ... I will pack my gym bag with my supplements for tomorrow

After I have cooked tea...I will sit down with my family at the dinner table 

After I have put my feet on the ground in the morning...I will say something positive about the day

After I have stood up from bed ...I will make my bed (Sometimes I start making it even when the husband is still asleep) 


Some of these habits are habits I do during the week, some only at the weekend - it doesn't matter. All these habits are tiny. If its too much to make your whole bed (yes I do have teenager daughters!) try starting with one thing - After I have gotten out of bed I will pull the sheet up. Start tiny. 

So have a go. Pick something little - make sure it's something you want to do. Attach it to something you already do! (We all shower, brush our teeth, make a meal, go to bed, watch TV or our devices, pull our curtains or turn our lights out). Make it something. 

And then have a go. But make it tiny. And keep doing it - before you know the Tiny habit will grow .





Comments

  1. Small steps to successAugust 20, 2020 at 12:00 AM

    I was waiting to see this amazing topic. Great tips, good reminder 👍. Make the bed while husband is sleeping 😴 🤣🤣

    ReplyDelete

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