Habits are something that we start without even thinking of it. Usually we do things we have done since we were kids, in high school and in college. People rarely change out of habits once they hit their thirties unless they make a strategic effort to do so. Good habits like exercising, reading and planning, give us a better chance to be successful, achieve our goals and live a happy life. Bad habits like over eating and drinking too much alcohol, not working out and doing things without thinking, will give you a great chance of health problems, a more difficult time to succeed and be happy.
How do we start a winning habit?
The first thing you have to ask yourself is what do you want to improve the most? And why? When you figure that out, you can look up different books to read about the subject and pick small easy things to do to help you in your area of choice. We work with a lot of athletes that want to improve their performance. The first thing they can do is sleep more (8 hours a night) and do a better job with their nutrition. Those two things are small but have a huge impact on their performance and achieving their goal.
Now getting started is great but we have to maintain the habit at least for three months. I say three months because the research indicates that a habit can stick anywhere from twenty one to ninety days with the sweat spot around sixty seven in order for us to maintain a habit long term. So in order to keep our commitment of a new habit we can have someone else hold us accountable, be part of a group that does it together or add it to be part of something you already do. Telling your friend or a group, who will hold you accountable, will give you a better chance to maintain your new habit. By pairing a new habit for example, like reading with waiting for your coffee to brew, gives yourself a window that already exist in your day to do it.
The last step is to enjoy the benefits of your new habit. The key here is to build positive winning habits and letting go of habits that do not lead to success. The more good habits we incorporate into our lives the better chance we have of being successful. For example, when I started playing football my freshman year in high school I had to gain weight and strength. So I started the habit of weight lifting. I didn’t like it but I joined my friend right after school for an hour. I started to see results after three months and devoted more time to it. Fast forward three years, I gained 100 pounds and got my first scholarship offer to play football for University of Southern California. One small habit repeated daily can have a huge positive effect in just a couple of years or less. That is why I think I am so willing to try new things. I already saw the impact of forcing myself past being uncomfortable and getting rewarded for it. You can do the same thing in your life; you just need to be willing to work for it. Are you ready to add training to your list of winning habits? If you play a sport, there should be no delay, contact us now.
Sincerely,
Donny Mateaki
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