Happy New Year, amigos!
We all know about New Year's Resolutions, and how hard they are to keep. I'd like to help – I'm very good at making habits.
Here's the secret, in two parts.
First, making habits is a skill like any other. If you've made a lot of intentional habits in the past, making a new one is easy. But if you're new to habit making, you need to start small.
Second, everyone focuses on the wrong part: the results that change will bring. Results are exciting, but distract you from the immense value of boring old repetition.
Think about the magazines in the grocery store checkout aisle. "Six weeks to a flat belly!" Programming boot camps promise their graduates all get good jobs.
What happens after though? Six weeks later, does your perfect body stay that way? What about that entry level job, after a few months, does it still feel good?
A real habit needs to be forever. That sounds intimidating, but forever is just made up of days. A real habit is one you repeat every day.
This reveals a paradox: change comes from repetition. Paradoxically, getting good at making new habits really depends more on maintaining the habits you already have.
So practice maintaining a habit. Start small. I highly recommend drinking water every day – it will help you make other habits. But whatever you start with, make it permanent before you move on to the next one.
Repetition is underrated. Whatever is worth doing is worth doing again.