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Daily Habits: February 2023 (Building a green wave and adding a new habit!)

March 3, 2023

My goals for February were the same as January – all habits over 80%. This is because, whilst I am confident I have these habits locked down, I want to see three consecutive months to validate that.

Drum roll….

Green across the board – that’ll do. 😉

A few things I’m particularly proud of:

I hit my protein and water goals easily – despite increasing them significantly for February
My average sleep was strong at 7:21 (second strongest month ever)
In many cases, the misses were intentional and planned (vs. struggling to hit them in the past). Remember, I’m not trying to be perfect. The goal is not necessarily to hit 100% consistency (with the exception of alcohol)

Now, onto that new habit.

I asked Jamie (my Personal Trainer) if he had any recommendations for new habits to add in the future. He gave me some really solid advice – don’t add any. Instead, continue to nail the foundational habits I have. Avoid the risk of overwhelming myself by adding in new, non foundational habits.

As any good client will tend to do, I’m going to ignore his advice and add another habit for March. 😂

I don’t do this lightly (because often when I do, I pay for it). However, having a steps goal has been on my mind for a while. You might have noticed that I’ve never had a goal for activity. This is because Jamie programmes all of my workouts, and I’ve never had a problem with following his plan. I’m active 5-6 times a week – it’s just who I am. And in any case, it’s kinda hard to set a goal for it because the programming changes to reflect where I am, at any one point.

That said, I’ve slowly become convinced that I need to be consistent with walking. I was going to write an article about why walking is so good, but Thomas Delauer just completely nails it with this short video:

Being consistent with a 10K steps habit will be complementary to the other activity I’m doing and will uniquely help me get leaner. I also like the fact that it will force me to get out in fresh air more often and better use my mornings.

10K steps is not going to be a walk in the park (I literally did not see that pun coming – sorry!). It’s going to take quite a bit of intentional effort to hit.

In true habit building style, I will not set myself a consistency goal to start with. I will just track my baseline in March, and build towards 80% over time. This approach has worked for every other habit I’ve built. That said, I’m really hoping my baseline will be over 50%, but let’s see.

March, here we come!

P.S. I go on holiday on March 29th, so it’s going to be critical to build an early lead to counter balance this.

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Defining self discipline (and why you have to build it)

February 22, 2023

As I’ve built a more disciplined life, I’ve become clearer on what self discipline means to me.

Ultimately, it comes down to this:

Self Discipline = Consistently doing things you don’t want to do

Now, on the surface that sounds pretty miserable right? One could make the argument – what sort of a life is that to live? But, let me tell you, without any doubt at all, it’s EXACTLY the right type of life to live.

The things you don’t want to do aren’t usually big or horrible – they’re minor points of discomfort. In most cases, it’s not even discomfort – it’s more that there is an easier and more comfortable alternative. And once you get into it, it’s always less uncomfortable than you imagine.

Let me give you some examples:

I never feel like drinking a litre of water within the first thirty minutes of waking up. It’s not overly uncomfortable to do. There’s just an element of discomfort, and therefore friction associated with it. Instead, its very tempting to wake up, drink a black coffee and get started with the day. But, almost every morning, drinking a litre of water within thirty minutes of waking up is exactly what I do. Because I know if I don’t, I will struggle to hit my goal of three litres per day.

I rarely feel like working out. I’d guess I feel like it about 20% of the time. It’s always tempting to put it off and do something easier and warmer instead. But, if I plan to workout, I WILL workout. I push the temptation to the back of my mind, put on my trainers, and get out for a walk (first part of my warm up). I then get into the garage gym and push through the rest of the warm up (yeah – still not feeling like working out). Then I get into the session. By now, I’m either happy to be doing it, or at least OK with it. I continue to push through that early friction and discomfort because I know I have to do it. If I want to be healthy, fit and happy in my own skin, I have to do it.

Everyday, I eat within an eight hour window – usually between 1PM and 9PM. I start to become aware of some hunger around mid morning (I’m feeling it now as I write this at 11:30). I feel this because I’m either genuinely hungry, or because eating would be nice (I kinda like food). Almost every day, I observe that feeling of hunger and discomfort, and I choose not to eat. I do this because I know sticking to my fasting period helps me eat less and make better food choices. This is foundational to my health and fitness goals.

Like I said, these examples are not big or horrible things. Simply, they are things I would rather not be doing – and there is a much easier and comfortable alternative.

My day is filled with these moments. Whilst I don’t choose the right option all of the time, I do choose it most of the time (80% is good enough, remember?).

OK, let’s go back to the argument of consistently doing things you don’t want to do – what sort of a life is that to live? Exactly the right one. These moments aren’t a huge hardship. They’re about making conscious decisions to delay short term gratification, for a much, much bigger prize.

What is that much, much bigger prize?

It’s being at a body weight I am comfortable with. It’s being comfortable taking my top off. It’s having energy. It’s being in a good and optimistic mood. It’s being in good health – meaning a good lifespan and healthspan [1]. It’s having pride and confidence, that comes from making good decisions and living life the right way.

Imagine the inverse – leading an undisciplined life. One where you take the easier and more comfortable option more often than not. That leads to being overweight. Being embarrassed to take my top off. Being tired a lot of the time. Feeling down. Having health problems. Struggling with confidence. Fuck that. It makes all of those moments of discomfort worth it.

I’ll say one other thing, that I only realised in writing this article. The sense of pride and confidence you feel from consistently doing things you don’t want to do, is one hell of a feeling. It helps to soften and neutralise those moments of discomfort.

It’s clear to me that the bigger prize, combined with how you feel about yourself on a day to day basis when you consistently do things you don’t want to do – that’s exactly the right life to live. There’s no question about it.

Notes:

[1] Lifespan is the total number of years we live, whereas healthspan is how many of those years we remain healthy and free from disease.

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Do this one thing, and it will completely change your health and life

February 9, 2023

Have you ever found yourself eating a meal, only afterwards to feel unexpectedly bloated and to have a huge slump in energy?

Have you struggled to lose weight, even though you’re trying really hard to eat more healthily?

Have you tried a bunch of different diets, but not found the right results with any of them?

Me too.

The title of this article wasn’t clickbait. I really do have ‘one thing’ you can try that has the potential to completely change all of this. But first, a story and some context.

I’m heading to a cafe for an English breakfast. Now, I love an English breakfast, but this isn’t a situation to take lightly. Immediately my brain clicks into gear.

This breakfast can go a few different ways. On one end of the spectrum, this will become a 1,000 calorie, high carbohydrate, high sugar, highly processed breakfast. On the other end of the spectrum it could be a 500 calorie, low carb, low sugar breakfast. And of course, there are a few options in the middle.

The 1,000 calorie, high carbohydrate, high sugar (37 grams), highly processed breakfast

The 500 calorie, low carb, low sugar (6 grams) breakfast

This needs to be a conscious choice. It needs to take into account what else I plan to eat, and how active I am that day. Because the moment I’ve finished that breakfast, I can’t take it back. It sets me off on a certain path.

If I choose to eat the breakfast that is typically laid out on the menu (the 1,000 calorie one), I better be skipping lunch, not snacking and thinking carefully about how my evening meal will close the day right. And I better be goddamn active to offset the fact that I will likely need to eat more to get enough protein. If I eat the more bespoke breakfast (the 500 calorie one), I will have much more flexibility for the rest of the day.

As you can see, I’m incredibly conscious and intentional about every single piece of food I put in my mouth. I’m aware of the calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat and sugar content of it. And I understand how the decision to eat that piece of food fits in with the rest of my day.

I have to be. I’m determined to be strong, lean and healthy. My goal is to eat approx. 2,000 calories each day. I want the macronutrient breakdown to be approx. 40% protein, 40% fat and 20% carbohydrates. And I want to keep my sugar intake around 30 grams. So, I can’t just fuck around and eat unconsciously. I have to have an extreme level of self awareness of what is happening if I’m to build towards those numbers each day.

Sometimes I WILL decide to eat that 1,000 calorie breakfast. Life is about a balance, and I know how to let loose from time to time. In fact, I have more flexibility in my life today, than I did when I was less disciplined. Discipline really does equal freedom. But, if I do eat the 1,000 calorie breakfast, the rest of my day will need to be shaped to reflect that very conscious decision. Most of the time, I won’t though – because I prefer more flexibility throughout the day.

Ok, let’s back up a bit. This is feeling a bit obsessive huh?

I get it. I get that I’m super over the top with this stuff. I have calorie, protein, carbohydrate, fat and sugar goals for the day. I track every single piece of food I eat. My self awareness and level of consciousness for how I eat is kinda off the charts. It probably even has some hints of an unhealthy relationship with food. I’m absolutely not suggesting you have to, or need to be like me with this stuff.

BUT, I think it’s a huge mistake to eat on auto-pilot each day. It’s a huge mistake to have virtually zero understanding of how much you’re eating and the makeup of the foods you’re eating. Because this leads to over-eating. It leads to eating too many carbohydrates, too little protein and too many saturated fats. It leads to consuming too many processed foods and too much sugar – EVERY DAY. And here’s the kicker. You don’t even KNOW you’re doing it. In fact, sometimes you think you’re doing the opposite. I honestly believe that 99% of people fall into this category.

Why is all of this even important? Because living your life in this way often leads to being overweight and metabolically unhealthy. It leads to unnecessary swings in mood and energy levels. It’s a one way track to feeling like crap and health problems down the road.

OK, let’s now get to that ‘one thing’.

If I could suggest one thing someone could do to start the journey of becoming a more conscious eater? Use Myfitnesspal to track everything they eat for seven days. There’s no need to do anything differently or adjust your behaviour – just record everything. Myfitnesspal makes this pretty easy. You can scan items and it also has a huge database of common foods – included branded foods. It’s also free.

I will almost guarantee that you will find out that you’re eating too much (too many calories). I will almost guarantee you’re eating too many carbohydrates. I will almost guarantee you are eating too many saturated fats and processed foods. And I will almost guarantee you are eating too much sugar. Hey, perhaps you will even find out you’re under-eating? That’s my point. What you thought you knew, will probably become completely unravelled.

It will be an education and a half. All of a sudden you will realise how wrong you were about certain foods. You know that salad you ate with dressing that you thought was a light option? Wrong. The pasta dish you thought was pretty healthy? Wrong. That glass of orange juice you were led to believe was healthy? Super wrong.

It will be the start of a journey that leads you to becoming a more conscious and healthier eater. One that helps you make more informed and better choices about food. And one that will completely change your health and life for the better (see, it wasn’t clickbait!).

How far you go down that journey? Well, that’s up to you. But, it’s a journey that’s absolutely worth starting.

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Daily Habits: January 2023 (The start of a green wave!)

February 1, 2023

My goals for January were straight forward – all habits over 80%. This is the first step towards a larger goal of all habits over 80% for three consecutive months. I want to prove to myself that I have these seven habits completely nailed before I move onto anything new.

Here’s how I got on:

Now, that’s what you call knocking it out of the park!

I couldn’t be more pleased. I’m confident I now have all of these habits in the bank. It feels amazing to say that because less than a year ago, I only had two in the green (and one of them was by the skin of my teeth!). And now, through being focused and patient, I have seven habits that feel easy to do. I can’t explain how much better I feel, and how much healthier I am for building these habits. I feel like a different person, on a different level!

So, February. Whilst I’m going to stick to my word and not try anything new, I am going to make a couple of tweaks. I’m going to increase my water goal from 2 litres to 3 litres, and my protein goal from 120 grams to 150 grams. I suspect my hit rate is close to 80% for these higher targets anyway. That said, it’s going to shift things from very comfortable, to having to think a bit harder to ensure I hit those new higher targets. These feel like appropriate tweaks to make, whilst still feel that building three consecutive months of 80%+ is realistic.

Onto to building that second part of the green wave!

P.S. I now have a handful of people who have got in touch and are starting to track their own habits visually. It’s pretty awesome to be inspiring others to build discipline and good habits in their life. I have a few ideas for how to teach this properly to anyone who wants to give it a go. Watch this space. But, in the mean time, if you want any help, just get in touch!

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The biggest threat to building discipline and consistency

January 30, 2023

Even when you’re disciplined, rarely do you get a perfect day. When one arrives though, it’s really something to savour.

When you live a disciplined life, most days are good though. Each one is a solid step forward and something to be proud of. But, now again, there’s a potential car crash waiting around the corner. ‘Potential’ and ‘around the corner’ are key words there. It doesn’t have to happen. And that’s where a mitigation plan comes in.

What’s wrong with the odd car crash you might ask? Quite a lot.

For a start, it destroys momentum. Nothing is as big a threat to consistency than when momentum is disrupted. If you drink three litres of water every day, and then have a day or two where you don’t drink any? I can guarantee it’ll be at least twice as hard to drink three litres of water the next day. Five times as hard the following day.

A car crash seriously messes with your results. At best, it will cause your week to break even. But usually it puts you at least a few steps back. You then have to use the next few weeks to gain the ground back.

But, here’s why a car crash is particularly disastrous for consistency. Like a virus, it has a way of spreading and infecting other habits and behaviours in your life. Let’s say you’re used to sleeping seven hours a night, but choose to party hard one night and you only get four hours sleep. Every other habit and behaviour you hold dear is now under threat. It’ll be harder to eat well, exercise, drink water etc. It’s a very steep and slippery slope. Before you know it, many of your habits and behaviours are coming crumbling down.

That’s a long way of saying, you have to avoid car crashes if you want to hold onto a disciplined life.

This is where a mitigation plan comes in. If you know you have something potentially disruptive around the corner, you have to think ahead. What can you do to proactively tilt the balance so severely the other way – that you turn a car crash into a blip?

Blips are fine. A blip doesn’t destroy momentum. A blip doesn’t cause you to fall off the wagon. A blip doesn’t dent your results in the same way a car crash will. You can take a few blips every week and still sit nicely in the 80 / 20 zone (the place where you can enjoy life and reap the benefits of being disciplined and consistent).

Let me give you a couple of examples for what a mitigation plan looks like in practice:

Last week I had a meal out with friends. Even with my best willpower effort (and taking into account I was going to let loose a bit), it was inevitably going to be a high calorie and carb evening. So, I made sure to ensure every one of my seven tracked habits was in the bank beforehand. I was more active than I might usually have been that day. I also fasted until later in the day and made sure to head into the dinner with low calories, high protein and low carbs:

This tilted the balance so severely the other way, that it mitigated the evening meal. I didn’t end up tracking the evening meal (it’s hard to do in a restaurant), but I would guess my mitigation helped me roughly stay inline with where my total calories would be on a normal day. Sure, carbs would have been a bit higher than I would usually like, but it is what it is. Importantly, I downgraded a potential car crash to a blip.

Here’s another example. We went to a friend’s house in the village on Saturday night to play some poker. I suspected it was going to be a later night than I would usually have (I’m normally in bed by 10PM). I also often get up early on a Sunday morning (between 6 and 7AM) to go for a long walk. This all meant there was a pretty good chance of getting disastrous sleep and falling below my 6.30 hour goal.

Thinking ahead, I decided to change a few things. I’d skip the early morning walk. I also wouldn’t set an alarm, and would allow myself whatever time I needed to be fully rested.

It turns out it wasn’t a crazy late night, but it was enough to see me go to bed over an hour later than I might usually (it was worth it, poker was fun!). My daughter woke up about 5AM and got into our bed too, which disrupted my sleep further. As I had planned for, I woke up much later than I might have usually – 8AM.

This all meant I ended up with an epic sleep of 8:17 hours!

Intentionally waking later was the ultimate mitigation. Even if the poker night went on later than it did, my 6.5 hour sleep goal would have been safe. But, I went further than simply protecting it. I ended up turning a potential car crash into a WIN – because 8:17 was one of my top five sleeps of the month!

There’s nothing complicated, or even hard about a mitigation plan. What most people lack is the self awareness of upcoming events that will threaten your consistency – and to understand why that’s fatal. Once you get that, it’s easy and it feels natural to plan ahead and mitigate. And when you do this, you’ll find it so much easier to be consistent with the habits and behaviours you care about.

A last word on mitigation. It’s an advanced strategy. It assumes that you have built some discipline and consistency to start with. If you haven’t, start there. My best advice for that is to focus on one habit at a time and visually track your progress – as I do every month.

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Be weak and unfit at your peril

January 21, 2023

Here are two reasons, why you have to be an active person:

Being weak, relative to being strong = 250% increase in all cause mortality.
Having a very low Vo2 max (bottom 25% of population) vs. a high Vo2 max (top 2.5% of population) = 400% increase in all cause mortality. [1]

THE END.

Ok, it’s not really the end. I think you know where I’m going with this though.

If you’re strong and fit, you will live a longer life. And not just a longer life – one with more years that are healthy and free from disease. I can’t think of anything that would be a higher priority than that. It makes a sedentary lifestyle hard to fathom.

You have to be an active person. You have to consistently expose yourself to some discomfort. Yes, that requires effort and it’s going to be hard. But, there’s only one thing I will guarantee – you will absolutely regret it later in life if you don’t do it.

It’s why, when it was cold outside and I didn’t feel like working out yesterday, I did the following:

10 minutes of ‘cardio’ @ mod effort (2 mins bike / 6 mins run / 2 mins bike)

Straight into..

3 rounds of:

8 Strict pull ups
15 Hand release Push-ups
30 seconds side plank rotations (R)
30 seconds side plank rotations (L)
20 goblet squats to box
20 halo’s (10 each way)

10 minutes of ‘cardio’ @ mod effort (10 mins run)

A straight 39 mins of work.

I felt so good afterwards. I was proud of myself for getting it done. I got a big lift in energy and mood. And I’m able to rest safe in the knowledge that it’s another small step to a long and healthy life.

If you’re living a sedentary lifestyle right now, this is a call to action. You know it’s not right. You know the trade off you’re making (more time at work, more comfort, more watching TV etc.) isn’t worth it. You know you’ll regret it. Break the cycle. Start doing something a couple of times a week. 10K steps in a day is an absolutely brilliant start.

Notes:

[1] VO2 max is the amount (volume) of oxygen your body uses while exercising as hard as you can. It’s a common tool to understand your fitness level

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My one non-negotiable habit

January 19, 2023

If I could only pick one habit that’s non-negotiable, it’s getting enough sleep. It’s EVERYTHING.

When sleep suffers, everything else starts to unravel.

I get anxious.

Other habits slip.

I get grumpier.

I’m less optimistic.

I don’t think as clearly.

My energy levels are lower.

I’m less productive.

I start to make poor decisions.

My work is lower quality.

I use my phone more.

The list goes on.

It took giving up alcohol for this to really click with me. I used to think that alcohol was the linchpin behaviour that derailed everything else. But, when I gave it up, I realised poor sleep was just as bad. And then I realised that a big part of alcohol causing problems was that it wrecked the quality of my sleep.

I’ve found getting enough sleep is even more important as you get older. I felt I could push the limits with it in my twenties. It got harder in my thirties. No chance in my forties.

Here is my sleep consistency for the last year, along with my average sleep:

Month	Sleep consistency (6.5 hours)	Average sleep
Feb 2022	50%	6:23
Mar 2022	74%	6:45
Apr 2022	77%	6:45
May 2022	81%	6:58
Jun 2022	73%	6:56
Jul 2022	68%	6:46
Aug 2022	52%	6:26
Sep 2022	83%	7:12
Oct 2022	81%	7:09
Nov 2022	80%	7:15
Dec 2022	87%	7:13

It took a while for me to figure out how to be 80%+ consistent, and to get my average over seven hours. But, I’ve finally managed it. It makes such a difference to how well everything else in life goes.

Here are a few quick tips:

Track your sleep (I use whoop).
Consciously plan your sleep and wake up times (it’s basic math).
When doing 2/, account for being awake for about an hour each night (interruptions, tossing and turning etc.).
When you do get a bad night’s sleep (hey, it happens), try and nap later in the day to offset it.

It’s not rocket science. It takes some effort to get everything dialled in. But, when you do, you’ll never look back.

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Why you have to build a disciplined life

January 10, 2023

As I build a more disciplined life, I understand why discipline equals freedom.

As you build more discipline, you start to feel more free. I know that doesn’t make sense on the surface. Wouldn’t being more disciplined lead to fewer choices? Nope, in fact, the exact opposite.

Almost every day, I drink two cups of espresso – never after midday. I’ve built this habit and it’s now easy to do. It requires no thought or effort. If I ever break it, it’s an intentional choice and worth it.

But, I used to drink at least ten cups of tea from the moment I woke up, to going to bed. I could never resist a double espresso after a big meal out at a restaurant. I tried to cut down many times, and found it very difficult. I knew it was too much caffeine. I knew it was hurting my sleep and therefore my health. Yet, it seemed to have a control over me that was too hard to break.

Almost every day, I drink two litres of water. This one requires a little more intention, but it’s not hard. I drink a litre quickly and early in the day. And I have a 1 litre Yeti water bottle that makes it easy to remember to drink more water – which I do.

But, I used to drink hardly any water on any given day. I’d remember at multiple points throughout the day, but never actually did the right thing and actually drink some water. Sometimes I would drink a glass or two, but it felt like a massive chore. I knew if I drank more water, I would feel better and be healthier. Yet, I still struggled to nail down the habit.

Almost every day, I push back my first bite of food to about 14.00. Only water and espresso until then. If I ever break it, again, it’s an intentional choice. This helps me be clear headed, alert and productive in the mornings. It helps me control my appetite and calorie intake. It helps keep my weight at the right level – which makes me feel good and gives me better health. And perhaps most importantly, it gives me control over my relationship with food. I’ll eat when I need to eat. I’ll eat when I say I’ll eat.

But, I used to eat as soon as I woke up. And from there, it was an autopilot, graze fest through to bed time. I’d eat for the sake of it. I’d get energy slumps throughout the day. I was often bloated and uncomfortable from eating too much and too frequently. I felt like a slave to food.

I could go on and on. Which versions of these sound more free? Which versions of these lead to more peace of mind? Which versions of these have more choice? Which versions of these lead to a higher quality life – both in the moment you decide to let loose a bit (i.e today I’m going to enjoy having pancakes for breakfast) and also in the long term (better long-term health)?

I can guarantee you, it’s totally possible to go from undisciplined to disciplined. And when you taste it, there’s no going back. But, talking about it and hoping for things to get better won’t work. You need to put systems in place. You need to get people around you that will keep you accountable.

A great first step is writing out your habits and then tracking them on a daily basis. It doesn’t have to be fancy – as you can see 😉

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Why most people fail to build new habits

January 5, 2023

Understanding the learning curve of a habit makes them a lot easier to build.

When you first try to build a new habit, it’s usually difficult. You’re doing something new. Your environment isn’t set up for you to succeed. This means you’re going to miss more than you hit.

But, if you stick with it, after a while, you start to notice things you can change that will make it easier. A hack here, a tweak there. This usually gets you to at least 50% consistency – which starts to make you feel OK about it all.

If you continue to stick with it (noticing a theme here?), you’ll notice that you stumble into one or two changes that make ALL the difference. They literally jump you straight to 70-80% consistency. From here, you can see the finishing line. You usually need just another couple of months to achieve 80%+ consistency with ease.

Let me give you a few examples:

When I first set myself a goal of eating at least 120 grams of protein, it seemed almost impossible.

The first thing I realised was that I needed an easy way to track it. Welcome, myfitnesspal. I quickly saw that I was eating about 50 – 75 grams a day – and even that felt tough. It took me a while to realise that because I do intermittent fasting, I had to make my first meal (lunch) really count. If I didn’t get enough protein in that meal, the rest of the day became an almost impossible hill to climb. So, lunch became meat, nuts and veggies, which netted me about 50 – 60 grams of protein.

But, it was still hit and miss getting to 120 grams of protein with just an evening meal to follow. I realised I needed to get an afternoon snack in to bridge the gap. Through some trial and error, I ended up adding in some high protein greek yoghurt and a protein shake mid-afternoon. This gives me 65 grams of protein, which means I’m now heading into dinner with 120 grams of protein in the bank. Dinner then usually gives me between 30 and 60 grams of protein, depending on what it is (I’m way more flexible given it’s a family meal).

Fast forward to today, and I’m on track this month to hit 80%+ consistency for 120 grams of protein per day. And you know what? It’s EASY. I’ve gone from almost impossible to easy in two months. I now have to really do something unusual to fall below it.

Here’s another example. When I first set my sleep goal of 6.5 hours, it was super tough. I managed it about 50% of the time. But, as I continued to focus on it, I realised a few things that needed to change to jump me to 80%.

The biggest thing I noticed was the math needed to ensure 6.5 hours. It sounds stupid, because it’s so obvious. But, I needed to start to actually think about what it took to get 6.5 hours sleep. When I would wake up. When I would head to bed. And importantly, the fact that you tend to lose about an hour each night falling asleep and waking in the night. This led to me becoming more flexible on waking early every morning. Now, when I have a morning where I have to wake early, I think ahead and be sure to get to bed early enough to still hit 6.5 hours.

Nowadays, the only time I don’t hit 6.5 hours sleep is when I have a commitment in the evening, combined with a lack of flexibility on what time I can wake. I literally can’t make the math work. Or, something rare like I’m sick, or my daughter is going through a rough time sleeping. And that’s usually less than 20% of the time.

So, now it feels easy to hit 80% consistency. My average sleep is now over seven hours. It’s gone from super tough to easy in four months.

As you can see, it’s not exactly rocket science. Most people simply give up early in the process – when it’s difficult and you’re not seeing many results. But, that’s just the first part of the process. You need to manage your expectations and be easy on yourself. You need to have some patience. If you can push through the early tough stage, you give yourself the chance to learn what it takes to be consistent. And from there, it gets exponentially easier.

Some habits can take 30 – 60 days. You start at over 50% and it becomes pretty obvious what you need to do to reach 80%+ consistency. Other habits can take six months and are a much more difficult journey. But the learning curve is usually similar. If you can have some awareness of it, it’ll help you stay the course and be more successful in establishing new habits.

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A perfect day

January 4, 2023

Yesterday was about as perfect as it gets.

I woke from a 8:21 sleep – a solid 50% of deep and REM sleep and 100% of my total sleep need (according to whoop)

I fasted (black coffee and water) until 14.30.

My diet was pure perfection. 2000 calories, with 40% protein, 40% fat and 20% carbs. That’s a massive 193 grams of protein.

I had 2 cups of caffeine before 11am.

I drank 2 litres of water.

I took my supplements.

I had a great training session – a nice long warm up, some upper body strength, conditioning on the bike, followed by a decent cool down.

Of course, no alcohol (537th day sober).

It’s rare that a day of habits comes together as perfectly as this. And that’s sort of the point.

A few years ago, I would have held this type of day as the minimum benchmark to feel satisfied. I was so goal oriented, that nothing less than hitting all of my perfect goals was good enough. Almost all of the time, I was overwhelmed and frustrated by not achieving my goals.

Fast forward to today, and perfection is not the goal. 80% consistency is good enough. I don’t get bent out of shape if I miss some stuff. I know 80% is where most of the rewards are. At 80%, I look and feel better than I ever have. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

Striving for perfection makes for a miserable life. Because as soon as you know you’re not going to hit perfection (usually, very early in the day), it’s easy to talk yourself into completely giving up until the next day. This is horrible for building consistency. And consistency ALWAYS wins over perfection.

Last year I laid the groundwork with my health. I found a way to be consistent with health habits and by working with my personal trainer, we found an optimal way for me to train consistently. This year, I’m going to build myself into a goddamn machine. And I’m going to do it with patience, 80% consistency, and a smile on my face. 😊

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