WEBVTT - How to build a new habit

0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.400
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:13.520
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:17.040
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how to build a new habit

0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.639
<v Speaker 1>into your life. I think most of us have things

0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.160
<v Speaker 1>we know we'd like to do regularly and aren't doing

0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:26.320
<v Speaker 1>much now. Maybe it's flossing or keeping in touch with

0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.040
<v Speaker 1>a certain friend. In my case, I've said for a

0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:31.320
<v Speaker 1>long time that I'd like to do more strength training.

0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:34.200
<v Speaker 1>It's one of those things that I know is important,

0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.720
<v Speaker 1>particularly as I get older. And yet, despite my ability

0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:40.320
<v Speaker 1>to run every day, I have a really hard time

0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.880
<v Speaker 1>making this habit stick, or at least I did until

0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:47.240
<v Speaker 1>this spring. Then I finally spent a little time thinking

0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:49.920
<v Speaker 1>about what I've learned about habits and my years of

0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.519
<v Speaker 1>reading and writing about productivity. I analyzed what makes a

0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.400
<v Speaker 1>habit stick and what makes us fail to stick with

0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:00.240
<v Speaker 1>our goals. First, I realized that it's easy to be

0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:05.480
<v Speaker 1>a little well lazy. To make a habit stick, you

0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:09.360
<v Speaker 1>need to make it very easy to do. I'm not

0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:11.920
<v Speaker 1>going to drive twenty minutes to a gym to use

0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.280
<v Speaker 1>a weight machine. Instead, I got a kettlebell and some

0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:19.240
<v Speaker 1>resistance bands and put them in my office. Every time

0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.680
<v Speaker 1>I walk into my office I see them. I don't

0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.520
<v Speaker 1>have to go hunt them down from a closet because

0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.800
<v Speaker 1>I'd probably lose momentum in the two minutes that would take.

0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:32.720
<v Speaker 1>Maybe my office is a little cluttered then, but it

0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.840
<v Speaker 1>keeps these things in the front of my mind. Second,

0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:40.839
<v Speaker 1>I designated a specific time in my schedule. A life

0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.240
<v Speaker 1>has lived in hours, and anything we're going to do

0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:46.840
<v Speaker 1>in life takes time. So if there isn't a specific

0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.400
<v Speaker 1>time to do something, well, you probably won't do it.

0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.120
<v Speaker 1>I also realized that sometimes are more in demand than others.

0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.160
<v Speaker 1>We're more likely to stick with habits when we're able

0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:01.680
<v Speaker 1>to seize time that wasn't being used well before. In

0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.720
<v Speaker 1>my case, I had a small window most weekday mornings

0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.400
<v Speaker 1>during the school year, after my nanny came to the

0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.480
<v Speaker 1>house or after I came home from the middle school

0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:12.560
<v Speaker 1>carpeal run, and before I brought my middle two children

0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.680
<v Speaker 1>out to the bus stop. That window was generally eight

0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:20.519
<v Speaker 1>ten am. I'd usually just check email during this time,

0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:22.840
<v Speaker 1>and I definitely felt like I was frittering it away,

0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:25.040
<v Speaker 1>knowing I'd need to stop whatever it was I was

0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:29.000
<v Speaker 1>doing soon, so I chose to make this my strength

0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:32.160
<v Speaker 1>training window. Any day that I was in my home

0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.880
<v Speaker 1>office from eight ten to I would use some time

0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.040
<v Speaker 1>in this window to do at least a few minutes

0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.880
<v Speaker 1>of strength training exercises. I'd throw around my kettlebell and

0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.320
<v Speaker 1>do various things with the resistance bans. Then I'd continue

0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.760
<v Speaker 1>on with my day. Now, I'm not exactly going to

0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:51.840
<v Speaker 1>be winning bodybuilding competitions with what amounts to ten minutes

0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.399
<v Speaker 1>or so of strength training three to four days per week.

0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:58.960
<v Speaker 1>But here's the thing. When we set huge goals, we

0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:02.840
<v Speaker 1>often fall short, and then we get discouraged and we

0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:08.040
<v Speaker 1>stop all together. Small things done repeatedly, on the other hand,

0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.640
<v Speaker 1>truly do add up. If I set a goal to

0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:14.960
<v Speaker 1>lift for an hour, there's no way I'd do it.

0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:19.079
<v Speaker 1>But a few minutes, well why not? And then another

0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.800
<v Speaker 1>key point, I write it down. Long time listeners know

0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:25.680
<v Speaker 1>that I track my time on weekly spreadsheets. I like

0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.800
<v Speaker 1>to see the word waits there a few days per

0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.600
<v Speaker 1>week and that eight cell on my spreadsheet. It provides

0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.960
<v Speaker 1>a good record that I'm doing it, as does how

0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.320
<v Speaker 1>I feel. I can tell that some exercises are getting

0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:41.520
<v Speaker 1>easier and I feel a bit more powerful during my

0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.480
<v Speaker 1>runs my back feels better in general, and that's definitely

0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:48.120
<v Speaker 1>a good thing. So if you'd like to start a

0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:51.160
<v Speaker 1>new habit, you might try what I did. Make it easy.

0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.680
<v Speaker 1>Designate a specific time, ideally a time that you're just

0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.960
<v Speaker 1>wasting now, keep your goals small enough that it inspired

0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:05.680
<v Speaker 1>there's no resistance, and then record your progress somewhere. You

0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.600
<v Speaker 1>just might find yourself able to stick with something you

0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.960
<v Speaker 1>thought you wouldn't be able to do. In the meantime,

0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.120
<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:25.200
<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.159
<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:32.040
<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:36.920
<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:41.240
<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.680
<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.760
<v Speaker 1>heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.520
<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:58.720
<v Speaker 1>to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:02.120
<v Speaker 1>I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:06.120
<v Speaker 1>visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.600
<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows. M