Improve Every Day, One Minute at a time

New Year’s resolutions and other grand plans are often poisoned by procrastination. Why do we hesitate to go after the thing we want? That grand plan to reshape our lives.

It’s overwhelming.

We find excuses to put them off even though we know it will improve our lives in some way. Self improvement is one of those things that can be hard to set aside time as it is often not a “check-off-able” type of item. Instead we hack away at our to-lists and daily tasks, not taking into account that it might be more efficient if we sharpen our skills.

Beating Procrastination

We know saying “I’ll do it tomorrow” doesn’t work. Yet it’s a lie we repeat with honest intentions. For me I struggle with exercising every day, something I want yet somehow don’t find the time to do “right now.”

How do we do we get over that hump?

It starts with a small commitment.

A Micro-Commitment

At first, a minute might seem like no time at all, what can “get done in that?” But it’s not about getting things done it’s about improving.

If your going to eat a pizza. You cut it into manageable delicious slices. You can do that with your own self improvement as well.

Say you’ve always wanted to read a 300 page book on philosophy but feel like you can’t dedicate the time to sit down and read it. What if you said that you would read one page a day? Stick in it in the bathroom and ignore your phone and boom! You’d have that read the book in about 10 months, which might seem like a long time but it’s far faster than “maybe one day.”

The effort is a sum of its parts. Just as a penny is worth hardly anything, though if you get enough of them together you can buy a car.

Create a Trigger

Take the book example, every time you find your butt on the toilet you reach over and grab your book. The porcelain throne becomes a trigger. Want to buff up your workout? Do 3 sit-ups before you take a shower. Working to eat healthier? Maybe meal plan when you have your morning coffee.

Those micro commitments open doors in our minds that make it easier to take on larger commitments. If we are already doing the activity in some way we are more likely to read more books, join gyms, or cook meals. It all adds up.

So revisit those resolutions and move the needle of your life in the direction you want to be one minute at a time.