Being Brilliant Every Single Day
You do know the way ahead. But are you struggling to stay consistent?
I am on the path of self-discovery, of growth. Of learning at every opportunity that I get. The everyday distractions don’t deter me anymore. I have a purpose. A goal. A vision for my future.
But is the road to your goal — a straight line? HELL NO! I would describe it as something like this.
This is true for every single ACHIEVER who dared to dream. And then turned it into his/her reality.
My day goes in a blur — work, home, kid! I found myself wanting “ME time” desperately. I knew there was no scope for it once I start my day. My strongest urge and will to start reading again — was my motivation to start getting up at 5 AM every day. There were days I could do so. And days when I got up late. But I never gave up. It took me a while to reinforce this habit. But YES. I did it. And now waking up at 5 am is second nature to me.
So, you need to understand one thing — It is never going to be a straight path to your goals, however big or small. There will ALWAYS be a furious sine wave towards your aim which ultimately smoothens out.
And do you know the day I knew I would never have trouble waking up at 5 AM? It was the month of December. Peak winters. I came home from work at 8 PM and was physically and mentally exhausted.
That night I had to rush back again to work at 1030 PM. By the time I came back home - It was 4 AM. That morning, I had the option to sleep away and recuperate or GET UP at 5 AM and stay on track.
I did not give in.
Today was the day and I knew it. If I push myself today — waking up at 5 AM would be ingrained in my DNA forever. And so, after a mere sleep of around 3 hrs — I got up at 5 AM. Did all that I had to — with a lot less energy — yes. But what mattered was that I showed up. For nobody else but for myself.
There are days when I am super lazy/sleepy/irritated when my alarm rings at 0450 AM. But now I am prepared. I have a tool with me. All I have to do now is to remind myself of the day when I had less than 3 hrs of sleep and still made it to my 5 AM routine. My toughest day of the Habit — is now my biggest motivator.
Someone I know, once drove 30 Km back home — after she forgot to carry her water bottle on a trip. You see, she had decided to stay on track with her everyday habit of ‘Staying Hydrated’. A clearly defined goal of drinking 2 L of water from a designated bottle.
So next time, you decide to truly embrace a habit — Give this quick trick a shot.
- Clearly define a Goal/habit that you can quantify. ( Eg Goal should not be to “wake up early” but to “wake up at so and so AM”)
- Follow this goal/habit on the day — It is next to impossible to do. And then let that impossible day be your biggest motivator.
You owe this to yourself and your dream.
Signing off
The Good Habit Coach
