Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that how often can matter more than
Speaker 1: how much. Committing to doing things frequently may ultimately lead
Speaker 1: to more success than committing a lot of time. We've
Speaker 1: all heard the advice that goals need to be smart, specific, measurable, achievable,
Speaker 1: all that good stuff, and I agree what we measure
Speaker 1: is generally what we get done. So when we start
Speaker 1: thinking of goals, we often try to attach numbers to them.
Speaker 1: But numbers can take different forms, and you might be
Speaker 1: better off focusing on how often you do something rather
Speaker 1: than the extent of a given engagement. For instance, you
Speaker 1: commit to meditating daily rather than meditating for ten minutes
Speaker 1: at a time. There's a simple reason for this. Emphasizing
Speaker 1: how often we engage in a desired behavior helps us
Speaker 1: form the habit of actually doing it. We might be
Speaker 1: able to stick with a frequency more easily than with
Speaker 1: a set duration or target, so we're more likely to
Speaker 1: continue the habit even when life is challenging. Running streaks
Speaker 1: provide a great example of this. A streak is more
Speaker 1: about how often, namely daily, than how much. Streakers almost
Speaker 1: universally set a low threshold amount, such as one mile,
Speaker 1: to count as that daily run, and for a regular runner,
Speaker 1: a mile is really not that much. Most runners can
Speaker 1: do that in ten minutes or so, and so the
Speaker 1: mild target is more to ensure the frequency. If you
Speaker 1: commit to running a mile every day, then every day
Speaker 1: some running will happen. The runner will put his or
Speaker 1: her shoes on and run. Whether it's raining, or they're
Speaker 1: out of town or under the weather, or spending the
Speaker 1: holidays with extended family, they can run that mile. I
Speaker 1: know from personal experience that you can run that mile
Speaker 1: by doing laps around your basement or small hotel room
Speaker 1: if you have to. It turns out that you can
Speaker 1: even run a mile one day before giving birth. Ten
Speaker 1: miles maybe not so much, but shuffling through one mile
Speaker 1: is almost universally doable, and the daily frequency means that
Speaker 1: the habit is straightforward. The question is not whether to
Speaker 1: run but when. Likewise, if you aim to read every day,
Speaker 1: you may read more books in a year than if
Speaker 1: you set a goal like reading a hundred pages per
Speaker 1: week or two books per month. If it gets to
Speaker 1: be Friday and you haven't read anything for your weekly
Speaker 1: goal or the last day of the month, and you
Speaker 1: haven't read much towards your monthly goal, you may be
Speaker 1: tempted to just abandon the goal altogether. After all, you
Speaker 1: are unlikely to read two books in a day, But
Speaker 1: if you commit to just opening up your book every day,
Speaker 1: you will probably end up reading a hundred pages or
Speaker 1: more every week. And two books are more every month
Speaker 1: because you'll get into the books simply by visiting them frequently.
Speaker 1: When you focus on how often, the how much will
Speaker 1: take care of itself. With many desired habits, daily is
Speaker 1: a good frequency to aim for simply because it takes
Speaker 1: the decision making process out of it. No need to
Speaker 1: di there about whether today is the day or not.
Speaker 1: It is always the day. Just do it. As the
Speaker 1: old Nike slogan says that said, if daily seems impossible,
Speaker 1: you might decide that if you didn't do something yesterday,
Speaker 1: you will definitely do it today. For example, you could
Speaker 1: aim to do yoga or stretch every night before bed.
Speaker 1: If you did do yoga or stretch last night, great,
Speaker 1: your default is still to do it tonight too. But
Speaker 1: if you didn't do yoga last night, you will definitely
Speaker 1: do it tonight. By focusing on how often we are
Speaker 1: able to see the benefits or pleasure the behavior gives us,
Speaker 1: without setting a how much goal that might be hard
Speaker 1: to keep, we are well on the way to forming
Speaker 1: a habit without any of the dread a how much
Speaker 1: goal can inspire. As long as you do it, you're
Speaker 1: good and progress is motivational. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. M hm. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
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