How long will it take?
So my
3 year old daughter is toilet training at the moment…
Generally, it is going well…
But occasionally
She will forget to say that she needs a wee….
But I accept that
It’s a new habit
And it doesn’t just happen overnight…(no pun intended)
So why is it..
That we get so frustrated – as adults- when things don’t go 100% to plan?
When our new so-called ‘habit’ doesn’t get done even though we said we wanted to do it today?
We then deem it logical to think ‘F it’…
All of a sudden…
One ‘bad’ day has resulted in a bad week..
It begs the question:
What would be different in your life right now if you didn’t let one day cause a bad week?
Think how many days of our lives we waste?
Anyway..
One of the ladies just starting inside our kickstart asked me the other day
How long does it take to create a new habit…?
And I shared Dawn’s story yesterday too..
But when it comes to habits.
Is it..
18 days?
254 days?
^^ that’s the range that a study showed on how long it takes to make something a habit…
it depends.
Often on how you respond to perceived failure.
And no one tells you this when you try to change…
Well, until now..
Here’s how it works…
Stage 1: Uniformed optimism → you know, when you start something new. You are motivated. Excited. Honeymoon period.
Stage 2: Informed pessimism → you start to think ‘this is hard’…”I am not sure I can do this”…<<< bit like a few weeks into parenthood haha
Stage 3: Pit of despair –> you feel low….and look for the next shiny object to give you that UNINFORMED OPTIMISM again
And we are back to Stage 1 and we repeat AGAIN…
That is the yoyo dieting cycle..
We get excited about trying something else new.
And repeat the cycle.
Some other quick fix.
Promise ourselves it will be different…
UNLESS>>
We make it through to …
Stage 4: Informed Optimism → you accept where you are now. You have that self-awareness. Focus on progress not perfection and although may seem slower, is actually FASTER because you don’t give up and end up back at Stage 1…
Stage 5: Success and fulfilment –> new habits are forming. You get a real reward and a feeling of achievement …
And that’s what we specialise in…
Getting you through the pit of despair
So you can stop stopping
And create new, long lasting habits
Rather than a quick fix.
But I get it..
You probably want to get started NOW..
Want to know how to move from A to B..
More on that tomorrow.
Matt ‘habits’ Fruci