Many of us initiated and engaged in some very good habits to start 2025. By now there have probably been a few set backs and you may have even fallen off track. Here is some wisdom by James Clear in the book Atomic Habits:
“No matter how consistent you are with your habits, it is inevitable that life will interrupt you at some point. Perfection is not possible. Before long an emergency will pop up, people get sick, or you have to travel for work or your family needs a little more of your time. Whenever this happens to me, I try to remind myself of a simple rule ‘Never miss twice’. If I miss one day, I try to get back into it as quickly as possible. Missing one workout happens, but I’m not going to miss two in a row. Maybe I’ll eat an entire pizza, but I’ll follow it up with a healthy meal. I can’t be perfect, but I can avoid a second lapse. As soon as one streak ends, I get started on the next one.
The first mistake is never the one that ruins you, it’s the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident, missing twice is the start of a new habit. This is the distinguishing feature between winners and losers. Anyone can have a bad performance, a bad workout or a bad day at work, but when successful people fail, they rebound quickly. The breaking of the habit doesn’t matter, if the reclaiming of it happens fast.
I think this principle is so important I will stick to it even if I can’t do a habit as well or as completely as I would like. Too often we fall into an all or nothing cycle with our habits. The problem is not slipping up, the problem is thinking if you can’t do something perfectly, you shouldn’t do it at all. We don’t realize how valuable it is to just show up on our bad or busy days. Lost days hurt you more than successful days help you.
If you start with $100, then a 50% gain will take you to $150, but now you only need a 33% loss to take you back to $100. In other words a 33% loss is just as meaningful or valuable as making a 50% gain. As Charlie Munger says, ‘The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily’. This is why bad workouts are often the most important ones. Sluggish days and bad workouts maintain the compound gains you have accrued from previous days. Simply doing something, 10 squats, 5 sprints, a push up, anything really, is huge. Don’t put up a zero. Don’t let losses eat up your compounding.
Furthermore, it’s not always about what happens during the workout. It’s about being the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. It’s easy to train when you feel good, but it’s crucial to show up when you don’t feel like it, even if you do less than you’d hoped. Going to the gym for five minutes may not improve your physical performance, but it reaffirms your identity. The all or nothing cycle of behavior change is just one pitfall that can derail your habits.”
Do you get it? Don’t put up a zero! Whether it is working out, eating well, learning to relax better (does not mean screen time!), or just giving your people more hugs, keep working at it! We are in a society of instant gratification, so we vastly over-estimate what can be accomplished in a short time, but fantastically under-estimate what can be accomplished playing the long game. Remember what you want in life and to happen this year and this 90 days and persist – play the long game and win!!
God Bless,
Dr. Brad and the New Life Team
New Life Chiropractic│ 705.735.1838
