I, on the other hand, am trying to find a way for the habit to stick, and stay stuck until I am infirm, or dead. I don't even know what number attempt this is, but I am writing this now because I think it might happen. If I'm trying to be a positive person, I'd just say that I have not failed, I have simply gone through a bunch of ways that don't work. Here's two ways I have failed in the past:
1) scheduling a day to lift and then giving the correct amount of ample rest (see The Four Hour Body).
Every time I did this, I would eventually stop working out, and then a cycle of guilt and depression would do the rest. (I am coming to grips with how powerful that cycle has been in my life. It will probably be an upcoming piece).
2) using Seinfeld's don't break the chain technique with writing as well as exercise.
One of the greatest truths about the human condition, one with the greatest impact, is Jim Rohn's simple observation
What is easy to do is also easy not to do.And that is what makes the don't break the chain technique one of the best things I can recommend. It takes a simple habit and gives it increasing weight as you go. It is easy to skip a day, but I'll at least thing twice before breaking a ten day streak.
To start the year, I bought two calendars at a dollar store, and was going to use one for exercise, and one for writing, making a chain of Xs for each day I did the activity. In practice, I was only able to follow one at a time. In January, I did some exercise. And in February and March I got myself to do some writing, so that now my book ("book"?) I am working on sits at 12,000 words (a dissertation, my wife says). To do this, however, I gave up on exercising, and in turn gave up on eating well, justifying it with a bunch of pseudo-intelligent but realistically dumb-as-hell reasons. I was left feeling bad, and knowing I could feel better.
The other possible mistake is that I had both calendars in the garage. I had worked to make the garage a great workshop and I thought the area where my wife's car goes in could be an exercise area when the car isn't parked. This all made the physical calendars a case of "out of sight, out of mind." I now use my google calendar to record my chain.
The Current Protocol
I am using the Seinfeld trick (again here) and only on exercise. For a day to count towards my chain, I have go through first a mobility and stretching routine based on the Sunrise Salutation and some warm ups I got from qi gong. Then I either do cardio or one kind of lift (for example push ups, or kettle bell swings, or a hammer curl). For the cardio to really count, I am looking for progress. The strength stuff is just make it so it is an every day habit, with no excuses, which is something it looks like I have to do.
I was at 11 straight days when I wrote the first draft. I am at 20 days now.
