How To Really Change

Today's post is a follow up of the one from yesterday. I will provide some more examples of how you can make a lasting change in your life the easy way. It’s not required reading but HERE is the link to the first post if you are interested.

Recap from the first post

1. New habits only become habits if you stick with it.
2. Things come up all the time, keeping you from achieving your goals
3. To get beyond this, set a minimum daily goal that you could never say no to.
4. Never argue with yourself for doing the minimum required. The only point to remember is to do this simple practice every day. If it takes two seconds it takes two seconds. If you feel like doing more then do more. Otherwise, be easy on yourself.

A list of possible examples

If you want to get in the habit of exercising every day, make your minimum goal to do at least one pushup or setup every day. You will either decide to do one or you will decide to do more than one. More than the minimum daily goal is completely optional.

If you want to work on your relationship, especially if it’s a long standing relationship, make your daily goal to at least give your partner a peck on the cheek every day.

If you want to learn a new instrument, play at least one note on that instrument every day.

Create a better memory for names. Practice remembering one name every day. This can be anything from people you know, actors, musicians, historical figures…anything.

Become more confident. At least once per day, replace a negative thought about yourself with a positive one.

How does this method work?

• It eliminates the the excuses we often give ourselves for failure. It’s so easy that failure is rarely an option. For example- you can’t say the following anymore. “It’s too hard”, “I don’t have time.” “I don’t know enough.”
• It takes all the pressure off of us. The only thing that matters is doing our minimum every day. Since our daily minimum is so ridiculously easy, we know for a fact that we will succeed in forming a new habit.
• In most cases, you will almost always chose to do more than the minimum. It’s quite common to tell yourself, “That was easier than I thought. I can do more of this.”
• When you do the minimum, you are moving and improving every day. It’s so easy you can’t help but succeed well beyond the twenty-one day period it often takes for new habits to form.
• Your subconscious mind does all the heavy lifting for you. The only conscious decision you have to make is actually doing of the minimum action for that day.

Final Advise

Try to avoid comparing one day with another. If you did ten pushups yesterday, don’t feel obligated to do eleven pushups today. Only do the extra if you feel like it. Just keep it simple and do the minimum each day until our subconscious mind takes over for us. In other words, keep it simple at all times and you will be amazed at how well this technique works.