Habit formation isn’t easy, especially in the beginning. Those early days of forging good habits are the most difficult. The most important thing is to rebound when you fall off schedule. The rebound is made much easier by baby stepping yourself back into those good habits. Rather than seeking to jump back into your good habit routine, give yourself two or three days to rebound. Two to three days of easing back into your good habit routine makes it less daunting.
Example
You’ve done a great job sticking to your daily self-education reading routine of 30 minutes a day. But a recent holiday disrupts that routine. For a few days, your routine is replaced with preparing for and enjoying the holiday. It was a fun-filled holiday, surrounded by family and friends. No time for reading. But now, family members are disbursing, heading back home. You find it difficult to get back into the groove of your good habit routine. Your mind just isn’t in it. You might even be a little sad, because everyone is leaving. What do you do?
Baby step yourself back into your routine. Instead of 30 minutes of reading, try just 5 minutes. Tomorrow, try 10 minutes. In a few days you’ll be back up to reading 30 minutes each day.
The key to rebounding is to make it as easy as possible. When it’s easy, your brain will not fight you. Once you begin to baby step your way back into your routine, those neurons will begin firing up once again and the brain war will end.
About Thomas C. Corley
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