I want to become a tortoise (Habits and Goals)

We all have a hare 🐇 start when it comes to forming a new habit. DAY 1 visiting the gym, we’ll do a 2-hour workout. We’ll do cardio, weights, yoga, pilates, stretching! We’ll have a protein shake too! No one ever will visit the gym for 12 days in a row only to do a 10-min workout. Most people are like that including myself. If only we could get to the finish line tomorrow!

My experience shows it doesn’t work like that. When it comes to habits and goals, we’ve got to be a tortoise 🐢. Maths say 1% better every single day means 37 times better after one year (1.01^365 = 37.78). We’ve just got to show up every single day and do that tiny little bit we’ve got to do for the day.

Got 10 minutes? Do a few push-ups or sit-ups, practice meditation or breathing, read 10 pages, whatever the habit is, then forget it. You’ve done the thing today. You’re a winner today. You’ve ticked the box today. Go have a coffee with your friends now. Just show up again tomorrow winning tortoise.

I’ve used only “we” because I’m a hare myself who wants to be a tortoise.

Any tips on becoming a tortoise? Leave a comment below.

PS: I was inspired to write this after going back to James Clear’s book Atomic Habits this morning. I say “going back” because that’s not a book you read once and then shelve it. It’s a book you keep going back. It’s the habits bible.