Making Change

I've been exploring ways to make positive change lately. Here's an approach that works.

First, write it down. Pretty basic, but it all starts there. Put your what and your why on paper.

Next, track it. I like paper best. The picture to the right is from my journal. It’s not pretty, but it’s effective. I’ve been in corporate America for the last 25+ years and we love stoplight reports. This is my variation. Red and green, good and bad for each day. It’s beautiful for its simplicity. Did you do it or not? 

The top green line represents 37 straight days of running; 28 this month, 9 carrying over from last. A few were excellent, most were average and a few were not so good, like the 10pm run after the men’s retreat wrapped with the Varsity food truck for dinner. ‘Nuff said.

Focus. Limit the “start” changes to one at a time. This helps to avoid adding too much time to an already crowded day. The “stop” changes take less time, but can be just as taxing. So don’t overdo it. Once something gets to the point of habit, pick the next one.

How long does it take until it’s a habit? Twenty-one days is my number. Once your past that mark, it’s a habit. It’s probably part of your morning, evening or some other ritual during the day.

Don’t confuse a habit with being an expert or even just being good at something. That’s not what this is about. Twenty-one days will build a habit and allow you to start seeing results. Getting good at it is a longer journey and expertise is a lifetime effort (or at least 10,000 hours).

September 12 post script. My running habit “ran” 50 days straight. A brutal stomach bug (avoid gas station soft serve yogurt) and Hurricane Irma laid me out on September 11. And I was back out for 3 this morning.

#waveon.