🏃💨 Speed Matters When It Comes to Habits
Another tool in our strategy to building new habits that stick is speed. How quickly can you execute the habit without thinking of alternative intentions?
Previously, we discussed one element of speed: making the habit frictionless.
Another way to get speed is repetition. The more you do it, the more rigid you become to alternative actions. This is a byproduct of just doing it again and again.
However, that doesn't mean you cannot consciously speed up your decision-making for habits that aren’t fully baked in yet.
After I brush my teeth in the morning, I sit down to meditate. If I linger, attractive options pop in my head like starting the kettle or looking at my phone. In slowing down, the chances of success decrease.
Have tunnel vision. Do not linger. Execute.
Homework Assignment for the Month
Now it’s your turn. First, make sure your behavior is as frictionless as possible, then consciously crank up the speed of your decision-making.
What is Critical This Week?
Every week we try to get things done, but do we ever consider what is essential? Here are a few prompts that I use to keep me laser-focused.
Which single task completed would make me feel the most accomplished?
What one task done would make everything else feel easier?
What task I am most scared of doing? The one giving me butterflies.
Where will most of my energy go this week?
What is life calling me to do?
Having a single critical focus allows us to filter the signal from the noise. Sometimes procrastination looks like tackling novel, unimportant, easy tasks to give a false sense of accomplishment. Identifying “what is my critical task?” avoids this trap.
Thanks for reading. Be well.
Irfan
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