I ❤️ Compliance
In the early days of setting a habit goal, we usually get some good momentum. Doing our planned habit regularly makes us feel good about ourselves, like we’re making some progress towards the person we want to be. If we’re working out regularly, we feel stronger, if we’re meditating regularly we feel calmer. But once that honeymoon period is over, it’s easy to fall off the wagon.
So, how can we get back on track?
My brother works for a large bank, and has a pin that sits on his desk that says “I ❤️Compliance”. While compliance at a bank is its own beast, this simple message does offer some inspiration for us when it comes to habits.
It’s so easy to give up on a habit completely when we miss a day, because it’s so easy to think of habits as all or nothing.
But what if there was another way?
This is where compliance comes in. When we decide we’re successful with a habit when we do it most of the time, it’s much easier to recover from a missed day, since we know we’re still on track.
But this does require a bit of intention. Here are three things you can consider:
Identify your non-negotiables
First, decide where you can be flexible with your habit, and where you can’t. For many habits, it’s easier to stay on track if you can find a way to still do the habit when things get hard, just perhaps a little less. For example, if you’re feeling run down, could you go for a walk instead of a run? When you’re short on time, how about meditating for 5 minutes instead of 20?
Set your compliance goal
You’ve picked your desired habit for a reason - doing it consistently in that way is a vote for who you want to be (thanks, James Clear). So how often can you stray from that ideal and still consider the habit a win? Maybe you want to workout daily, but 5 days in a week is ok. Or perhaps you’re ok modifying how you show up for your habit up to 10% of the time.
Whatever you pick for this step, make sure it considers your lifestyle and constraints. You may have a different threshold for yourself now, at this phase, than you would at other times.
Iterate based on what you learn
When you miss or modify a day, take a moment to consider why that was necessary. Are you noticing patterns about yourself? Would an adjustment to your habit help you be more successful in the future?
Perhaps you notice that you are able to make healthy choices at the beginning of the week, but tend to slip up as the week goes by. Would a mid-week shopping run for fresh produce help? Or maybe you can’t get through your goal of reading 10 pages every night because you’re tired when you read before bed. What if you experimented with reading over your lunch break instead?
Deciding how and how much you’re willing to modify a habit before you run into a challenging situation helps - when you need to adapt, you already know exactly how you’re going to do it to stay on track.
How will you ❤️ compliance this week?
June 27, 2024
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About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
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