#139 Habit Milestones

ByLukas
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The most important habit milestone is the center of gravity shift.

Initially, when you start building a new skill, your center of gravity lies with your old identity. You’re constantly fighting the pull of your old identity. And if you’d stop for even a day, you’ll get pulled right back into your old habits.

“If I don’t write today, what does that say about me? I’ve always given up in the past, and with this habit, it’ll be the same.”

The center of gravity shift happens when you’re about to miss a day and realize:

“It doesn’t matter, tomorrow I’ll start again anyway.”

When you’ve cast so many votes for your “identity of perseverance” you know that missing one day doesn’t equal giving up anymore.

When not writing for a day has become the exception, and when it happens, I get pulled right back into my writing habit.

Before the shift happens, when you’re still building self-trust, discipline is key.

But after your center of gravity has shifted to align with what you want to do anyway… you’re free.

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    #132 Unlimited Learning

    ByLukas

    Learning often implies discovering what you can’t do.

    I can’t write and convey what I want to say. I can’t speak Spanish fluently. I can’t do this yoga pose.

    For many people that’s also the final destination, when in fact, it’s only the start.

    We’re missing a word: Learning is discovering what you can’t do yet.

    Or, even better:

    Learning is discovering what, through diligent practice, you’ll soon be able to do.

    After all, actions overrule thoughts.

    I can’t write and find the right words… yet. But with diligent practice, soon, I’ll be able to convey what I want to say.

    I’m not able to do this yoga pose… yet. But with diligent practice, soon I will.

    I can’t speak Spanish fluently… yet. But with diligent practice, soon I will.

    That’s all there is to it.

    Discover your current limit. Realize that through diligent practice, you’ll overcome it.

    Then you’ll find a new limit. And through diligent practice, you’ll overcome it.

    Until you find a new limit, which you’ll overcome… through diligent practice.

    Where do you let the discovery of your current limit be your end station?

  • #342 You’re always on track

    ByLukas

    You won’t feel that you’re getting addicted to social media when you scroll through feeds on your smartphone every day. But you are.

    You also won’t feel that you’re becoming a writer when you write just 1 minute a day. But you are.

    You’re always on track to doing something or becoming someone. But rarely will it feel that way in the day to day.

    Choose wisely.

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    #310 Normalize the habit first

    ByLukas

    Only when it has become normal to write every day can you truly think about what you want to say.

    Only when it has become normal to run every day can you truly think about the record time you want to run.

    Only when it has become normal to practice yoga every day can you truly think about what it means to perform a pose.

    First, you normalize the habit. Then you get the freedom to hone the skill.

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    #292 The obstacle course hidden beneath your goals

    ByLukas

    If you think you know how to write a story but never do it, do you really know how to write a story?

    If you think you know how to do a yoga pose but never do it, do you really know how to do that yoga pose?

    If you think you know how to apologize for a mistake but never do it, do you really know how to apologize?

    If you know what you want to do but aren’t doing it, do you really know what you want?

    Because hidden beneath your goals and technical step-by-step instructions to accomplish them, there’s an obstacle course of personal context, personal beliefs, past experiences, and emotions.

    And these, you won’t discover in books or videos.

    These, you’ll encounter by doing.

    And these, you’ll conquer by doing.

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