habits & routines
should you take the time to sit down and write down some goals? absolutely!
- what’s the best thing that can happen? you achieve your goal! but at the worst, you move in a positive direction!
- imagine what would happen if you didn’t try? what’s guaranteed to happen if you don’t?
habit change IS identity change.
to change a habit, or to have a new routine, you are changing who you are. this can feel uncomfortable, but it’s all good!
- think about the person you want to be once you’ve implemented this new habit or goal? this is a new version of yourself.
- think about the person you are now and the things you’re doing that do NOT support that newer version of yourself.
every decision and action is a vote for one candidate or the other.
creating goals and actions.
break up your life into categories.
we would recommend prioritizing these big 4 that will give you the greatest results:
- real food (what, how, when, etc.)
- sleep
- natural movement (fitness)
- cultivating a morning process (so you can set a daily intention)
think about what you want to be like in those areas. think about your highest and best self in those areas. what are some things you want to accomplish? what are some of those end states? picture it, see it, and feel it.
what activities do you need to do to get there?
goals are one thing. they are great to see and visualize. to achieve the goal, however, we need action steps. what are those action steps as far as you know?
- if you have a goal of 6 pull-ups, what are the daily or weekly activities that you need to do to get there?
- if you have a goal of losing 20lbs of fat, don’t fixate on the 20. fixate on the activities habits and routines that will get you there.
map out an ideal day.
- map out an ideal day, hour by hour, so you can visualize what you need to do on paper.
- consider all your work and family obligations.
- consider when you have to get up, and when you need to get to bed.
- maybe you realize you can only start with a couple of things, and that’s great! plug them in.
cast small votes for your ideal candidate.
- if your goal is to go to the gym, maybe instead of saying my goal is to work out for an hour every day for 5 days a week, think about, what is it that has to happen for me to even make it to the gym? so maybe your goal is to get your workout stuff ready the night before every night. maybe your next goal is to make yourself get up at 4:30am for a 5am class. get in the habit of getting ready. get in the habit of getting up.
- if your goal is to get your nutrition dialed in. maybe your first goal is to sign up for a class to learn how to eat. or maybe a first goal is just to go grocery shopping 2 times every week. or maybe you feel like you eat out too much, so your first goal is all home cooked meals in the evening, even if you’re not sure what you are supposed to eat. home cooked meals is going to be way better than fast food and eating out.
master the art of getting ready, showing up, and getting prepped and then you can improve on the habit.
then push thru the boredom.
- fall i love with the routine. if something works, it’s ok to do it over and over. because then you have a chance to actually master it.
- then within the set routine, you can start to make mini improvements.
- once I made a habit of showing up for CrossFit I had the ability within CrossFit to improve on my actual workouts.
fall in love with the activities and processes.
when a habit is followed by a pleasurable feeling, your brain is like hey do that again. problem is most things that are good for us take time.
- eating something bad now feels good now = reinforces it.
- working out hard hurts now, and might not pay off till later.
learn to find things to enjoy during the process:
- working out? spending time with others is something that makes it enjoyable. and also thinking about the benefits down the road.
- eating real food? enjoying the process of cooking. telling yourself this is going to pay off later.
take those long-term rewards and pull them into the present moment. long enough to see results. then continue to enjoy those benefits, in addition to the results, and this will give you momentum to keep you moving forward.
a few other things to consider:
self talk.
- when you say “I’m not an athlete, I’m not fit, I don’t like to eat healthy, I can’t cook. . .” then when you go to embark on those things, it makes it that much more difficult because you’re going against the identity that you’re creating with your self talk.
- notice your self talk, and then choose to cast a vote for the right candidate by changing the conversation and taking a step in the right direction!
say no more often.
make yourself a priority.
here’s what to do – summary plus handouts.
the person you want to become vs the things you are doing now, it’s an identity change. every decision, every action, is a vote for one or the other. start casting votes today for the candidate you want to become.
- break your life into categories. consider our big 4.
- think about who you want to be in those areas.
- what are the activities to get you there?
- map out an ideal day.
- start with the first thing that has to be done to create the habit, then add to it.
- fall in love with the process by bringing the long-term rewards into the present moment. check out this video on using tomorrow for today.
- consider this book Atomic Habits.
