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Recently I broke a really good habit.

The amount of work involved in creating a good habit and then the ease with which that good habit can be swept casually aside to become a distant memory of something you used to do is wildly disproportionate.

However that’s the reality. Can’t be changed CAN be learnt from.

So that’s what I’m going to do… In today’s show I want to weigh-in on why its absolutely not worth risking breaking a hard fought for good habit!

For a start if you’re anything like me you 100% cannot rely on logic.

And you CAN pretty much reason yourself into anything.

You see logic tells me the logical thing to do is to attend a networking meet-up that I find valuableand enjoyable and that I pay for the privilege of attending each month… whether I keep the good habit of attending or not.

Yes, that was the most recent good habit I dismissed to distant memory.

Perhaps in the same way that logic calmly asserts that 2 pieces of bread or 50 grams of nuts or 1 glass of wine is a serving. Or Enough. Or The Plan. 

However, enter Reason.

That uncannily ability we have to talk ourselves into anything. For better OR at least as often for worse!

Reason tells me that I deserve a relaxing night in after a busy day… that I’ll be too tired tomorrow if I’m out tonight… that I won’t be able to put my best networking foot forward tonight however if I take this month off I’ll be super-fresh next month!

Seeing me waiver, Reason eagerly insists a couple of wines at home and an early night is the best choice. The way to feel motivated to be super-productive again tomorrow. “And being super-productive is The Plan isn’t it?” reason cunningly suggests…

So. To get a little less reflective and a tad more implementable here are three things I’m going to do next time I’m tempted to break a hard fought for good habit:

Three things that I hope will help the next time you’re tempted to break your exercising or meal planning or valueless-nutritionally-void-afternoon-snack-IGNORING-habit…

One: Focus on how you will feel AFTER you complete the good habit. Or equally, how disappointed you would feel after you sacrificed the good habit.

This is pretty powerful for me. Often I’ll remind myself of how I’ll feel at the end of a day when I’ve taken the actions I most want to take. The sense of achievement and progress is motivating.

It comes down to an emphasis on delayed gratification and a future benefit focus.

As opposed to being seduced by immediate gratification… what feels good in the moment yet leaves you with regret and a lack of progress long term.

Two: Factor in some external accountability. Even, consequences.

I don’t care how disciplined you are. I’m constantly told by my clients that’s I’m insanely disciplined.

Sometime with too strong an emphasis on insane! However, here’s the thing… from time to time for me and YOU life happens. An accumulation of discipline destroying factors conspire to drag us from our natural unrelenting goal focused path and that is when it’s valuable, necessary and vital to have some help.

To have some accountability at hand to keep you making the progress that you’ve already decided is most important to you. Even to enforce some consequences to help you make that best for you in the future choice and ignore that enticing right now choice.

Three: If you do break that good habit. Get back on board with it at the very first opportunity you have.

I let myself down on this one. I missed one month of the meet-up, which turned into 2 and now even 3 months. I missed my first opportunity to get back on board, however here’s the thing:

For as long as it’s important you get another chance. So I’ll be back this month. That’s my very next opportunity and I’m taking it.

And you know? Telling YOU is something I do with volition, to hold myself accountable. So thank you.

Feel free to check in with me too.

To get actionable today I’d love you to think of a habit you know is for your body gain good however recently you’ve been wavering. Possibly you’ve even fallen off the wagon as I did.

Let’s roll with the external accountability step for today. Your action step for today is to share your habit – the one you’ve been wavering with and are now absolutely accountable for – in the comments below.

I’ll be a little more specific too. The meet-up I’m next attending is the 11th Feb.

I’m locked and loaded. Committed. Are you?

That’s it for today… in tomorrows Thursday Training show it’s the third instalment of my: Fav Work-out This Week.

I hope you can join me.

If you liked this you’ll also like: Stop, Start, Continue Action Based Weight Loss Goals.

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.