creating new habits that last

I was just reading a blog post of Tim Ferriss(author of the four hour work week) where he was talking about creating new habits that last.

He included excerpts from a book "the power of less", which give instructions and advice from the author who in the last two years has lost 40 pounds, quit smoking, tripled his income, gone from non runner to several marathons, written a novel and non fiction book, eliminated debt and become a vegetarian.

I thought I would repeat the advice here and explain how I am going to incorporate it in my life, see if I can inspire some of you here to do the same!

First step: Only focus on one habit for an entire month.

I like a lot of people try to improve in all areas at once and end up with very little progress. I remember at one point I was trying to build an online business, learn programming, get fit, improve my memory, improve my guitar playing, work on myself through self improvement techniques like affirmations etc, learn to break dance and the list goes on. I already feel less overwhelmed knowing I will only focus on one new habit this month.

I'm going to focus first of all on getting fit and losing a few pounds this month. I will not try and implement any other habits!

Second step:
Write a plan for each day, when you'll do the habit, what will you do just prior to the habit and who you will report to.

I've written a new gym routine I will do 4 times a week and a meal plan that includes 5 smaller meals of lean protein, complex carbs and fibrous vegetables in each meal. I've set times for the gym and the meals.

Third step:
Write or talk about your new goal publicly to a large number of people.

This is what I'm doing here, why not do the same in this post with your plan for your new habit.

Fourth step:
Report on your progress daily

I've set up a free blog thats in my sig file where I will post updates. I really don't care if anyone reads it, I figure that having to write about what I've done each day will give me motivation to stay on course with the new habit. Feel free to use the comments section of the blog if you want somewhere to report your daily progress.

Here are the Rules:
1. Only one habit at a time
2. At first make the goal easy(for example if you can do 30 minutes of exercise only set out to do 10)
3. Choose something you can measure( like exercising for a set length of time)
4. Be consistent do habit same time everyday (I've planned my gym time and meal time to be the same everyday)
5. You must report daily
6. Keep a positive habit, note any sticking points but then move on

The blog post also describes 12 habits that the author of the "power of less" considers will most likely change your life in the next 12 months.

Anyway get started with this challenge by posting your own new habits publicly here!

I'm off to the gym