Day 178: On Losing Momentum
No matter what your goal/project, never allow yourself to miss two days in a row.
Momentum will carry you forward almost automatically for as long as you stick to your resolutions every day. Missing one day every now and then isn’t that dangerous, but if it’s two or more days without any action taken to get you closer to your goal, the risk of giving up on your goal dramatically increases.
What I’ve found from my personal experience is that you don’t necessarily have to always stick to your resolutions exactly as they are stated. If, for example, you have a goal to write 1,000 words a day and for a weekend you can only write 100 words each day, you should still be able to resume your regular routine on Monday easily. If, however, you skip writing altogether, resuming your routine will be much more challenging.
The same happens with exercise, where even a super brief 5-minute workout will still be better than not exercising at all, or when changing your nutritional habits, where adding even one tiny vegetable to your plate is better than only eating junk food.
Whenever you find yourself in a situation where it’s hard to stick to your goals, take one full day off if you need it, but on the next day perform at least one tiny action associated with your goal. That way you’ll still maintain some momentum and ensure that it will be easier to resume your regular routine when you’re ready.