Reminders for the Mind

What a helmet

This week I have been busy working on a building project with Steve for a friend of mine in Paddington. It has been a great week of learning and satisfying physical work, but also exciting to see a project through from the start. After working on site I have also managed to fit in some after hours work too, so it's not left much time to write here or post anything to MrStevensWrites. However I have still managed to keep up my scribbles in one form or another and have got up before 5am to go for a training run twice this week. So I am still on track to creating my new habit of writing and training early, I'm certainly not beating myself up about it.

After talking with my friend Andrew late last night (I managed to stay awake until 11pm!) I realised that although none of us need a plan to start creating a new habit, but it might just help. When we want to create a new habit, perhaps in order to overcome an existing one, we are usually really motivated. We feel we could take on the world and succeed within 24 hours, but then life happens. We have a long day, a hard day, we encounter difficulty, stress and our new habits get left at the kerb. There is no doubt that creating a new habit is tougher than we think when we start it. As I have said before we must be consistent with out efforts in order to make progress. I have to remind myself of this a lot, sometimes I forget because other than my Adamantium skeleton I am only human. So what are we to do?

Reminders are everywhere in our lives. Whether it's a reminder on our phone to wish our family member a happy birthday or a familiar smell that reminds us of a long forgotten memory. Our brains need a little reminding in order to take action and keep taking it to produce a new result. Our brains however will take the path of least resistance. It makes sense that they are efficient, they've been developing over millions of years (sorry God). Now when we introduce something new the brain has to change the patterns created. But overcoming years of habit creation is like taming a lion with a wooden spoon. That's where reminders will help us to succeed. By placing reminders with existing habits like brushing teeth, making a cup of morning tea or making breakfast we can maintain consistency.

I think that left jar is making up for something

I recently put two jars next to the kettle. One contained 40 or so drawing pins, the other was empty. When I went to make my morning cuppa I was reminded by the jars that I needed to write. So once my tea was brewed I would sit and write a page in my notebook. Whatever came to my mind would go down. I would then transfer a pin from the full jar to the empty one in order to show myself progress. When I came home that evening and made tea I would see those jars again and be reminded to write. I would be able to repeat the morning process, but possibly write a little more like a blog post. It's a small and seemingly silly example that works really well for me (never underestimate the power of tea!), but it shows how easy it can be to remind yourself to do something and in that moment take action.

Andrew's new tactic is leaving himself reminders around his flat in order to change his mindset. I haven't yet spoken to him in detail about this, but I can see this working if he has notes on his bathroom mirror, perhaps inside the fridge on his microbiotic produce (lol) or on his front door. These places like my kettle are in your face throughout the day and that is what you are going to need in order to succeed in making a new habit work and creating a new mindset.


Conclusion
 I know I may repeat myself about this a lot, but that is because it is not rocket science, you just have to do it.

1. Start by leaving reminders for yourself around the house in places that you will go frequently. Write down what you need to hear and read it aloud when you see it. Hearing it as well as seeing it is much more powerful for your brain. Tie the reminders to established habits, like using the bathroom, brushing teeth, packing your work bag etc.
2. Write out the action you need to take to create your new habit on your reminders. If it's to get fit then you could say "Put on this kit and go for a 15 minute run", leave it by the toilet.
3. Track your progress. Leave a pen by your notes and tally up each time you carry out your new habit. Whether it's writing, reading, running or eating healthier. Make it visual so you can see your success and prove to your brain that you can do it.
4. Set yourself a reward. You want to get to the point where you can take action come rain or shine, no matter how you feel. That will be tough. So set a goal and a reward for when you achieve that goal. This may sound like "I want to get to the point where I am running twice a week for four consecutive weeks. My reward will be to go and watch Metallica in concert." The key is to make it important to you, something you really want that will help you in the early stages of habit creation.

Why not give it a go this week and let me know how you get on. I am off to stick post-it notes to my toilet, I'm planning on a trip to Florida as my reward.

Tom :)