The 30 Day Habit - Exercise Every Single Day in May!

Over the last couple of years, i had put on quite some weight and as per the BMI chart, i am in the Overweight category. While i have been dieting on and off, lack of regular exercise has proved to be the biggest obstacle in losing weight and getting fitter.

But why should i get fitter or for that matter lose weight? Am not too concerned about the way i look in the sense that i wouldnt lose sleep over it. I am also not bothered even if others comment on the fact that i look overweight. Then why should it bother me at all?

After analysing, i figured it bothered me because i had internalized a belief that physical fitness goes hand in hand with mental fitness. The future me that i visualized always always looked super fit and was super energetic at any point of time. And i think that i fell short of other big goals i set because the logical mind always looked at the future me achieving these goals while the subconscious mind could discern that i was not the future me yet. In a sense, i was sabotaging my own plans!

In that sense, getting fit through regular exercise becomes the biggest objective. Of course, while intrinsic motivation is high, i need to set certain triggers to ensure success of the 30 day habit and beyond as well. To me, the trigger is to do it with a small group who also believe in changing this habit as much as i do. And my partners in crime are my wife & my brother.

Truly excited to see myself continue this habit for the next 30 days and beyond! I really want it to be a lifestyle change! Through this single habit, i truly believe that my whole life would change for the better! Will keep you all posted on the results!

Creating Behavioral Change

Changing a Habit/Behavior is not easy. Especially if you have lived with those habits for over 30 years. I read a very interesting article by BJ Fogg, whos a behavioral expert and teaches at Stanford University. He says that Behavior is caused by 3 elements - Motivation, Ability & Trigger and even if one of these elements is missing, then behavioral change will not occur. This got me thinking.

More often that not, for each of us desiring a behavior change, motivation will not be a problem. And if that was the case, then behavioral change is merely a wishlist and not a goal. Hence one has to be absolutely sure when we desire for a behavioral change in the sense it has to be heart (emotional) based motivation.

Ability is something that each individual can ascertain and accordingly set goals within his/her current capabilities. For eg, an obese person can set a goal that he/she would walk 1 km a day every single morning and that would still be within his/her abilities. The only challenge is overestimating our capabilities and desiring to run a half marathon when you have hardly exercised in the past few months/years. This is a common problem for optimists (namely myself!) but over a period of time, one is able to ascertain where one stands. At the other end, setting easy goals does not help and hence one needs to be able to set small goals that is just within one's reach.

Trigger is an area that most of us miss out on. For eg, alarm clock should be a good trigger to wake up early. Having your sports wear out in the bed where you can see them when you wake up is a good trigger. Having a check list and marking a tick mark every single time you action on your goals is an excellent trigger.
But in spite of all this, something is missing in the jigsaw puzzle of behavioral change. And that one area according to me is THE most important  - Removing Existing Habits. One cannot expect to wake up early by sleeping late or by aspiring to exercise while at the same time binge on unhealthy food all the time. To me, the trigger has to be powerful not just for creating new habits but for removing old habits as well.

Am going to experiment with 'Trigger' to remove some existing habits that am not happy about. Will post on that later. In the meantime, please do share your triggers and your experiences as well. Till then, adios!

Setting Realistic Goals

There has been a pattern that i have been observing with respect to Goals. The more that i set ambitious goals with stringent timelines, the more is the gap in achieving them. This has led to negative energy, self bashing and ending with a promise to meet up to the expectations set. And this cycle has continued for quite a while now. That led me to introspect on where i was going wrong and what i should do about it.

There was this article that i read recently on Steve Pavlina which was extremely insightful on Goal Setting. The crux of the matter is that we set goals with a logical mind believing logic will not fail. I mean, if 20 items are to be completed in 5 days, then the logical mind says that set 4 goals a day and you are done. But what we fail to realize is that the heart overrules logic and eventually our emotional moods takes over and disrupts the goals that are set.

The solution that Pavlina advocates is to first get to a state where your mind and heart reaches a level of coherance. For example, sit in the morning and think of all the things that makes you grateful for, in life. Or listen to a song that puts you at peace. Of course, getting to this state will not be easy and will take practice. But once this state is achieved, the goal setting process will be natural and will almost flow to the point that you will probably visualize your delight after you achieve the goals set. The most critical point here is the heart rules and only the goals that your emotional being resonates with can be achieved, with logic then defining how it can be achieved.

I am currently trying to get to a state of coherance and am focusing on waking up early and meditating for 5 minutes each morning. Hopefully, in some time (maybe in weeks or in a month), the state of flow will take over and when it does, am sure that the results will be positive.