Start again

Habits are broken all the time, and when that happens, you need to allow yourself to go back a few steps.

Progress is very rarely linear, and thinking that it is, might actually keep us from starting again a healthy habit we have just failed at for a while.

If you were used to run 10km a week and you have not done that for a month, would it make it easier to start again with 2km this week?

If you are used to meditate for 20 minutes a day and you have not done that for a month, would it make it easier to start again with 5 minutes today?

If you are used to write 10,000 words a week and you have not done that for a month, would it make it easier to start again with 5,000 this week?

We are not machines and we need to be able to cut ourselves some slack once in a while.

Discomfort

You have an idea.

And that idea initiates some feelings. Excitement, perhaps. Or anticipation. Or frustration. Or anger. Or fear.

And to mitigate that, you take an action, right there, in the moment.

You send a message.

You ask a question.

You check the status.

You share the idea.

You push for delivery.

You do it yourself.

The point here is that the shorter the time between the idea and the action, the more the action is not about the idea, but about the feeling and your desire to push it away. To clarify, to push it onto somebody else. To give away the ownership of that thing that makes you uncomfortable.

On the other hand, of course, the longer the time between the idea and the action, the more the action is exactly about the idea. The feeling has dissipated by then, and you have probably learned something about yourself, about the feeling, about the idea, and about how to make the action right on point.

Learn to live with your discomfort.

Clouds and sun

When the sky is cloudy, is the sun still there?

That’s a powerful lesson by Daniel Sá Nogueira, coach and trainer.

That is to say, when you have problems and life seems grim, can you still be happy? Problems are problems, and happiness is happiness. They are separate things, and we should try to not mix them. And when we succeed, we will find ourselves pondering our problems while being, at the same time, happy.