One act at a time, you can reach your own excellence and let it become part of who you are. Then, and only then, life will be your workout, your medicine, and in natural, unintentional wellness.
As we all know, habits aren't formed over night. For one action to become a habit, or shall we say, a second nature, takes 3000 + repetitions, says some studies on learning.
Forget about how many to replace one habit with another! So, what we need is a strategy. Because 3000, that's a lot to swallow all at once.
So what can we do?
Divide and conquer.
In The Power of less, the author tells us
“The only way you’ll form long-lasting habits is by applying the Power of Less: focus on one habit at a time, one month at a time, so that you’ll be able to focus all your energy on creating that one habit."
Let us be curious and test it out (at the end of the day, if it doesn't work, we'll have done a few more pushups, run a couple more miles, or started a day feeling good with healthy breakfast).
Pick a habit, any habit. Don't add any more onto your plate until you have established the one habit. Make sure it is an easy goal that is measurable and specific, as in you can write it down on a piece of paper with timing and duration or reps.
Here are some suggestions for your one habit transformation;
-Do 10 minutes of body weight exercise before dinner
-Have protein-rich breakfast every morning
-Do 5 pushups right after waking up
-Eat 1 more serving of leafy or green vegetables at dinner
-Walk/Run 20 minutes before dinner.
Resist the urge to do more. Remember, studies show when you add just 1 more task to your plate your failure rate goes to 100% at forming a new habit.
Most us brilliant and humble minds will get bored at the routine and will want to do more. Stick with only one. There is a 100% failure for forming multiple habits at once, and a 50-80% success if you do just one habit at a time – depending on whether you follow the rest of these rules. Now is not the time to try to catch 2 birds with 1 stone.
Remember your body-brain doesn't care what your brain-brain thinks until you train your brain-brain to think in tune with your body-brain. Keep flexing those repetition muscles and they'll grow stronger, more resilient. You. Under your own control.