The most powerful thing for me has been realizing how quickly habits develop, good and bad. It can be so easy to say "oh, I'll start running TOMORROW", or "why bother going for a run today, when I'm never going to be able to keep it up?"
But actually, surprisingly, things you don't initially want to do can become positive habits in a very short time period. Like, 3-5 times. Of course, the flip side is also true; I've often fallen OUT of workout habits just as easily. But at the end of the day, perfection is not the goal. You shouldn't avoid starting a new positive habit just because you know you'll probably lose the habit again. You can always pick it up once more!
Someone who is a regular gym-goer for a few years, then becomes sedentary, then picks up running for a half decade, then moves on to cycling, then falls out of the habit, is probably better off than someone who never bothers to try.
I agree completely. Taking a shower, brushing my teeth and other routine things have never become a habit for me either. I have to put in the same effort every time.
Of course there are habitual things in my life, but I can see no common characteristics. Total time spend certainly isn't it.
Amusingly, this has made it almost trivial for me to quit smoking despite being a smoker for many years. I just never developed a habit for it, so dropping it was as simple as just not smoking.
I don’t run, but I lift. One important thing to realize by myself was that I must not to listen to any exercise advice. Which told me “don’t workout every day, it’s bad! change muscle groups! take rest!”. So I had a hard time converting it into a habit and got stuck in overdo-sore-timeout cycle.
The key thing is to do/start with the same thing everyday, with slight variations in the end. Make it an autopilot routine during which you can be mentally elsewhere. Only then you may think “I have to…” and [click] it’s done before you even notice.
But actually, surprisingly, things you don't initially want to do can become positive habits in a very short time period. Like, 3-5 times. Of course, the flip side is also true; I've often fallen OUT of workout habits just as easily. But at the end of the day, perfection is not the goal. You shouldn't avoid starting a new positive habit just because you know you'll probably lose the habit again. You can always pick it up once more!
Someone who is a regular gym-goer for a few years, then becomes sedentary, then picks up running for a half decade, then moves on to cycling, then falls out of the habit, is probably better off than someone who never bothers to try.