Habit Building: Do The Math

Let’s say your habit for the month of October is to do the deep lunge hip stretch for 2 minutes per leg each day.

Four minutes per day sounds unremarkable. Perhaps it’s so unremarkable you’ve already written it off as too easy for your habit challenge. But, let’s say you listen to my advice, and take on the challenge of 2 minutes per leg per day.

The first week, you do exactly the minimum amount.

7 days x 4 minutes each day = 28 minutes of stretching in one week!

But here’s where it gets interesting.

The next day, day 8, you feel great. And your body is actually feeling better after the stretching session, so you start to look forward to it. On day 8-10 you end up stretching for 4 minutes per leg. Doubling your original habit time. Days 11, 12 and 13 are back to normal, just 2 minutes per leg. But on day 14, you have some extra time and end up doing 5 minutes per leg!

7 days x (8+8+8+4+4+4+10) = 46 minutes of stretching!

On week 3 your body starts to crave it. You aim to do 5 minutes every single day. Expect that you miss two days this week, you had some travel and it just didn’t workout. But instead of quitting, you get back on the wagon because you’ve done the math, and realized, even though you missed a couple days, you’re crushing because you beat last week’s total stretching duration, without even trying!

5 days x (10+10+10+10+10+0+0) = 50 minutes of stretching!

Do the math on your habit. Build it out and see how it looks in two weeks, four weeks, or a couple months down the line. Expect mishaps, they happen. It’s important to get back to it the next day. Lowering the bar, and starting with a small habit, pays in the long run. It creates momentum and before you know it, your 4 minute stretching session is a 10 minute stretching session. Let’s get to work!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain