The Most Important Habit
When you read about the lives and routines of accomplished entrepreneurs the amount of things they do can be pretty intimidating and embarrassing in comparison to your own daily routine. The number of habits boosting their health and productivity can you jealous and helpless because “you could never do that”. There’s no way you could wake up at 5, meditate, workout, read 100 pages and write 3 pages all in one morning. Even if you give it a try and plan your day like you were Bill Gates, you usually fail by 10 A.M.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes time to develop habits and make them stick in the long run. But still, there are longer and shorter ways to get there and – if you do it right – it doesn’t take much to change your life. Sometimes all it takes is just one simple habit.
There’s a way to create a chain reaction of good habits by focusing on the development of only one of them. It might be different for different people but for me it was getting into the habit of working out that changed everything. I was swimming competitively and running so obviously I wanted my results to be the best they can be, therefore I started researching nutrition and came upon something called “veganism” , a diet beloved by ultra runners. I started to implement plant-based meals into my diet and began to follow other vegans – mainly vegan athletes – on social media. As I entered the vegan community which was more broadly focused on wellness and being the best version of yourself, I discovered more and more areas of my life that I wanted to improve in. I learned about productivity and minimalism and when I started to get into that community, I started to read more books, in which I learned that a lot of accomplished individuals share the passion of meditation, and decided to try that as well. After that I learned about fasting, then cold-showers and now, I want to improve my writing, start a business and a podcast. I don’t expect for this chain reaction to ever stop.
I triggered a domino effect that will accompany me through the rest of my life – and I have to say I am really fucking glad it will. The only thing I currently fear is that eventually, my urge to learn and explore will disappear, my life will be boring and I myself will become something that people like to call “the average citizen”.
But believe me that 3 years ago this wasn’t the case. Like I’ve written above, it all starts with taking the first step – building that first habit and sticking with it consistently – and eventually, you can find yourself in a completely different place. But for this to happen, you need to pick the right habit.
What’s the one – it can still be small and simple – change that you can make today, that will give you the greatest return on your investment of time and energy? Something that will build momentum and inspiration toward a greater change? The answer is what you should focus on in the next few months.
The good news is that the beginning is the hardest part and from there the road is pretty much downhill. If you find the right habit to consistently invest your time in, the return will not take long. It doesn’t take much to see the first results and in a couple of months you can find yourself in a completely different place mentally, physically or in any area you’re improving at. Even the smallest implementation of minor habits like 20 minutes of meditation or 10 minutes of journaling will spark momentum for positive change in a lot of other areas of your life. But it all starts with taking that first action, sticking with that first habit.