Have you ever “decided” you were going to go the gym three times per week, or that you were going to lose 10 pounds before Summer, or that you would stop smoking in 30 days? I know I did. I lost count of how many times I “decided” I would go to the gym three times per week, among many other things I decided to do.
So why don’t we follow through? I mean, we know it’s good for us, we know we need to do it, we know we will feel better (after losing 10 pounds or going to the gym or whatever we decided to do), but we still don’t do it. Why?
I recently learned an easy way to follow through on anything I decide to do, and it’s been working like magic.
In fact it’s so simple that when I learned it I laughed at it. But here I am months later, exercising every day, doing my speed-reading exercises every day, reading books every day. And there is no way I’m going to skip a day, because once you do something every day for about 30 days, it becomes a habit that is very hard to break. And this is where you want to get.
So how do we get there?
The secret lies in how you set up your goal. It has to be very easy to do, and preferably short.
If I say to myself, I’m going to go to the gym three times a week, it implies I have to drive there, find a parking spot when it’s usually full, exercise for an hour, then drive back home… My mind says: “That’s a lot of work, that’s too much hassle” and you find a million other things you can do instead.
So instead, I decided to work out 5 minutes every day. That’s something so simple anybody can do it! I made it a routine to work out just 5 minutes every morning. I started with simple exercises and slowly added light weights, then a little heavier weights. Then after a couple of weeks, I was working out for 10 minutes, then for 15 minutes. A few months later, I am working out every day, I feel much better, and I look a lot better too!
When I decided I wanted to learn to read faster, I found a software program that only takes 7 minutes a day, and you can see your progress very quickly. I got hooked! See, 7 minutes is easy.
Set your goal in a way that looks and feels easy. Break it down into smaller goals, and several things will happen: first, once you accomplish the first small goal, you feel encouraged to go for the next one. Success builds on success. Then you go to the following one, and so on. And you are creating a habit of a successful person. Then the next goal will be a lot easier to achieve. Before you know it, you will be the successful person you deserve to become.
Tony Balduccio is a freelance writer and financial expert. He has been helping people get out of debt with tips and strategies that work for over two years. Learn more at http://www.GetOutOfDebt101.com/blog and at http://www.Overcome-debt.com
Article Source: This is the secret to creating the good habits that can make you successful
