> 1/2 way there

Today, I hit day 55 of Andy Frisella’s 75 Hard Mental Grit program. And, as it turns out, my favorite podcaster, Mel Robbins, was in my ear this morning while I completed my outdoor workout talking about none other than building amazing habits that stick!

If, like me, you love science-based research, especially when it comes to creating healthy habits, you may have heard that creating habits in 21-days is a myth. In fact, I learned this morning that most habits take 66-254 days! And, according to a 2009 study that  looked at 96 people over 12-weeks, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic… 66 days to be exact.

I have been consistently following Andy Frisella’s systemic mental grit program of 2 daily workouts, a clean diet, 10 minutes of non-fiction reading, drinking a gallon of water and taking progress pictures daily. And, with the exception of squeezing 2 workouts in everyday, it hasn’t been too crazy hard. After listening to Mel’s podcast today, I am convinced a large part of my success was the systemic prep work. It is definitely not because I am more disciplined than others. I truly believe it is because I set up my own SYSTEM for success before starting the 75Hard system with visual benchmarks I could check off, alternative behavior replacements, and rewards including texting others daily who are also doing 75hard with me.

For example, my previous morning routine was eating sourdough toast with peanut butter in the morning. So, I knew I had to find a replacement for that “behavior” before starting. Fortunately, I found yummy gluten-free sourdough bread from a local bakery and now have a slice of that and a hard boiled egg everyday instead. And, like many other humans who enjoy a nice glass of wine/cocktail to decompress after a long day, I knew I had to find a replacement for that routine (insert Topo Chico with lime in a wine glass) so I wouldn’t be tempted. And, I also told myself before starting that it was completely fine if I went on 2 longs walks for my workouts on days when a gym workout or a hot yoga class was not possible. I also created a system that had a daily reward… And, yes I will be vulnerable (thanks Brené Brown) and share it included placing a gold star after I checked off all of my daily 75 hard to -do’s each day. Yes, once a teacher, always a teacher! 

And, now that I have pushed this system of behaviors through my neural pathways, the habits of working out, eating clean, drinking water, and reading daily are locked in. So, although I may only have 20 more days left of crossing off habits on my frig, I know I can sustain these awesome habits going forward. Yes, I  will ditch the required selfie, and go down to 1 daily workout. But, the other habits are baked in… including a gluten-free diet and gravitating toward reading a book in addition to some mindless Netflix.  Speaking of books, thanks to all the great folks and companies I have been interviewing with, I am now reading System Wise  about ….you guessed it SYSTEMS and the importance of acting, assessing and adjusting while working collaboratively (and being vulnerable!) using evidence to support and scale improvement.. A.C.E!

So, thank you reader for allowing me to take a beat to celebrate my more than ½ checkpoint of success with you. It’s been a wild adventure filled with some major life hiccups ( job loss, skin cancer diagnosis to name a few) but one that has been so rewarding. And, yes life-altering. 

If you want to change anything in your life, I would highly recommend finding a realistic system that supports your known triggers and includes daily rewards, even if those rewards seem silly, and yes, very elementary or odd to others. 🙂 If they work for you and support your goals, I am confident you too will find yourself more than ½ way there too.