New year and habit building

How is it going with your 2024 commitments? One of my exercise commitments it to reach 50 push-ups(easy version) in a row by end of this quarter. And I can tell you. It started really, really low. My first attempt was just 11 push-ups. It felt terrible. Now 19 days later I already arrive at 24 push-ups in a row. And it still feels terrible, at least short before and during the exercise.

So, what helps me to form my next habit? It is embedded with my other morning exercise routine that starts with Yoga. And I committed to do my push-ups, with 2 iterations, maximum capacity short after my Yoga session. So the Yoga session is my Trigger. At the end of each round I take notes on what I achieved and I sense my emotions and body reactions. The reward is that short after the exercise the muscles feel amazing and I can sense en emotion of pride and happiness. I worked out of my comfort zone, again. A mental marker for getting out of my comfort zone is my admiration and inspiration from David Goggin’s amazing will to stretch out of the comfort zone and the neuro science background, that getting out of comfort zone grows a certain brain area that is connected with willingness to live. (I can highly recommend to read his Can’t hurt me)

And I also know that forming habits takes at least 66 days and up to 254 days. So I resist my inner voice and make it as easy as possible to repeat each day. I stacked habits - Yoga with Push-Up followed up with my 60’ Peloton. I invest daily in it, with minimal progress. If a day is not yet that great, it is still important to do it. This is based on many learnings from my previously build habit and on Atomic Habits and The Power of Habits.

What about your routines and about your goals for 2024? How do you ensure you stay connected and push through?

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