Morning me (that wakes up full of good intentions and motivation) sets up strategies for lazy afternoon me so lazy afternoon me can still be lazy but achieves the minor goals morning me see out to achieve.
You are sitting comfortable in your car, parking close or far away is not going to impact your /immediate/ comfort (future you's problem!), and likely the parking is more open far away, so it's going to be easier to find a spot and get in/out of your car when you are far away. Win win!
That was a life changing moment for me. I started waking up so much more rested, and without immediate morning stress. I got up later than I used to set my alarm for, but much earlier than I used to actually get up. Alarms that interrupt deep morning sleep are so hard to deal with.
I set my alarm for the time I want to be up (in my case as early as possible) and always get up within one snooze.
The life-changing “trick” for me is to just go to bed when I’m tired (which varies day to day). This is in contrast to having a “bedtime.” Some nights I tuck in at 7PM and others I’m up to 10 to 11PM and still pop right up at 4:30AM every day (even weekends).
I set my goal to floss one tooth a day. And the trigger for it was always before I could brush my teeth I need to complete that one goal, and then give myself a big smile and raise my arms in triumph. And then I could brush my teeth.
I did that for a few days and found that it was quite easy to stick to. I then started flossing a few more teeth, until I was doing them all. That was six years ago, and to this day I floss every night. Sometimes I'm very tired, but my goal remains the same, floss one tooth, so some nights I just floss one tooth, but most of the time I do them all.
For me the key has been two things, remove thinking and at least five minutes.
- Find a programme, doesn't really matter which one as long as it's one you can follow for at least six months.
- Set the days you're working out.
- Pack or prepare everything the evening before.
Less thinking is less opportunity to go "Hmmm, I'm tired. I'll do it tomorrow". Just follow the programme. On those days do that amount of reps of those exercises.
The five minutes thing is that I always do at least warm up and then five minutes more. After that I'm allowed to stop, but at that point I'm changed, at the right place, warmed up and doing it. 39/40 times I do the workout.
My brain is ridiculously easy to fool, it's quite convenient.
The key is to wake up earlier, have a coffee, and just show up. Even if you don't feel like shipping, just write down your thoughts. Consistency keeps the habit going.
Do you understand and accept the risks of your habits?
I used to eat watching stuff. Eventually I recognized it as a bad thing. In my case, it distracted me from the food and whatever I was watching. I ultimately dropped this practice and I enjoy my meals way better.
You can see it as a destructive thing, right? Whether it applies to you or not, I wouldn't know.
When I said all habits are self-destructive, I meant that they are conditioning. It's a little part of you that now is in auto mode.
Of course that my example, cigarettes, is also bad for my health. However, the conditioning is mostly chemical (I think), related to nicotine. It was also a way of saying "yeah, I know smoke bad", and a way to make people think of other potential harmful habits (gossip, drugs, promiscuity, stalking, drinking, cheating, etc) and how these things can go hypocritical very fast.
All these explanations make no difference.
I smoke, I will suffer. Can you recognize the habits that will make you suffer?
It is valuable to me though.
People with schizophrenia (like me) have a long historical association with tobacco smoking. I'm not using this correlation as an excuse. It's just a fact.
Of all things that I perceive as harmful, cigarettes are the least offensive to me. Even though I know that it will bring me pain.