30 days to a better you
Have you ever wondered why most things are in 30 day increments? “30 day risk free trial”, “Try it free for 30 days”, “Download a 30 day trial” and so on. Im sure you have heard it all. This is not by coincidence. The is a very distinct reason for the 30 day paradigm.
Thirty days it the time it takes to a habit to form or break. Some say it is more like 21 days, but I like to take the high ground here just to be sure. The question here is ‘How do I use this to my advantage?’ The answer is simple. You choose an action and do it for 30 days.
Choose: Pick an action that you would like to preform every day. It can be anything. It should be something that you can do without much thought. A good example is getting out of bed when the alarm clock sounds. However, it is not limited to simple actions. It is best to learn the technique with simple things first.
Do: Once you have chosen your action, you must preform it everyday for thiry days without fail. You also must do it at the same time every day. This is mandatory. You must do it every day at the same time for thirty days. If you dont, then you brain will not commit it to habit. Thirty is the magic number.
Maintain: Once you commit you thiry days and succeed you will have built a habit. However, this is a new habit. New habits are not as strong as older ones. To maintain a habit, you just keep doing it. If you dont like your new habit, now is the time to quit. If you stop now, your new habit will be gone within a week. But, to maintain the habit, you just keep doing it. You dont need to be as strict as the first thirty days, but you probably should. Over time you will build a strong habit.
I should note that is is a good idea to only build one habit at a time. Changing your lifestyle is very stressful. Doing too many things at once will overstress you and you will fail at mostly everything. Take it easy, but be consistent.
Mostly anything can be turned to habit. The first 30 days will be the hardest. And the first habit you build will be the hardest. But it will get easier and easier as you learn how you mind works. You will be able to build stronger and more complex habits as time goes on.
Here is more on the subject: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/04/30-days-to-success/
Permanent Link |
Del.icio.us
|
Cosmos
|
Digg
|
Slashdot
