*Originally Posted 2018*
Man, this is tough. Not the workouts, meditation, dieting or even writing about it. It’s the routine that is painstaking to grasp. For being at day 45, one would think that good habits would have been forged in steel and a new routine would be solidified.
I figured the exercise-created endorphins would have become so addictive at this point that I’d be itchin’ like a meth head to get up at 5am and fire up the next dose of my new regimen. Not even close in my case, so I decided to do some research on my struggle for a new routine.
Routines and Habits
Good ol Webster defines them as follows:
Routine:
a regular way of doing things in a particular order
Habit:
a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior
Just like everything else on the interwebs, I found discussion of these two meanings often ends up in unnecessarily heated opinions and debates. So apparently (just like all religious texts) these definitions and their relationships are up for interpretation. To make this easy, we’ll just stick with the basics- a routine is made up of habits.
Why are bad habits like smoking, drinking, drugs and storing flatulence in mason jars for later deployment, so easy to stick to? On the other hand, things like eating healthy and exercising your mind/body are so damn hard? Perfect example: Every New Years Resolution…EVER!
Now, I’m no brain doctor, but my diagnosis is that the common bad habits listed above are easy and highly addictive (including fart jars) while most good habits are difficult and feel more like a second job.
I came across a study which uncovered that it takes 2 weeks to 8 months to make something habitual. Nice work Scientists. Way to use your profound subject matter knowledge to nail down a timeline.
My interpretation of these findings: 2 weeks for all those fun bad habits and up to 8 months for the cornucopia of health on my plate. Silver lining of the study being, the average test subject took 66 days. Looks like I’ll get there sooner or later. New Habits = New Routine. Just keep on keepin’ on.
When was the last time you added a Good Habit to your routine? How long did it take? Start the conversation by Commenting below.
I was told I needed to do some videos from my friends that apparently forgotten how to read, so that will be on the horizon. I just have to learn how to film and edit first…
Till next time, keep it Schnozzy!
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