Consistency: The "One Thing" Approach to Changing Habits

 This is the time of the year when we turn our minds to resolutions, to big goals, to what we wish to accomplish in the coming year.  The lure of a fresh start is strong!  But I think often we plan big, but fall short quickly, and then give up altogether.

The key to success in any endeavor, based on my own experience and in my opinion, is super simple. 

Consistency.

I've touched on the value of consistency before (actually: last January!).  

 I believe firmly that consistency is the key to unlocking the good life. I cannot think of any aspect of life that is not improved by basic consistency, even if it's just a few minutes a day. The value is in the habit.  Over time, the habit snowballs and adds up.  If you write one page a day, in a year you'll have a book!

If you're struggling to start a new habit in the new year, don't think about changing the habit completely.  Instead, think of what one small thing you could do each day that would turn the ship around.  Then do everything you can to do it!

For instance, if you don't read to your children enough, decide that you'll read to them while they eat breakfast (they're a captive audience anyhow!).  Then just read a little bit at breakfast each day. 

Fitness: commit to being consistent with exercise.  I don't mean trying to kill yourself 3 days a week. I mean spending 15-30 minutes in moderate exercise 6-7 days a week.  Fifteen minutes is enough to keep the habit going.  I learned this from Louise Parker and she's right. 

Weight loss: this comes from food, not exercise.  So don't be fooled into thinking that joining the gym will actually help you lose weight!  It may have a tiny impact, but it's ultimately about dietary change.  Pick one thing in your diet that you know you must change.  Change that one thing.  Do it as consistently as possible, exercising self-discipline. For me, back when I lost a lot of weight, that was mindless eating, and particularly eating after dinnertime.  There was a lot more to my weight loss than that, but I think if I'd just changed that one habit, I would have still lost 10-15 pounds.  

I don't care what it is--Bible reading, music practice, homeschooling, housekeeping, saving money--whatever the goal is, just picking one simple thing to do per day, that doesn't take more than 15 minutes, will get you where you want to go faster than having a grand, complex plan that isn't sustainable. Because what we're looking for, after all, is just this: sustainability. 

It's not sustainable for me to work out two hours every day.

It is sustainable for me to take a walk each day and do 15 minutes of resistance work. Often I do more. But the minimum is sustainable for me. 

Just pick one small thing.  And focus hard on that thing. Some people can make several changes at once, but I think most people should just try to focus on one thing at a time.  In a few weeks, you'll have a habit; it won't be such a struggle to do that one thing, because you'll be used to it, and you can move on to something else!