Every once in a while, we all get the motivation to start working out, eating healthy or studying sincerely. We start strong and aim to work out 6 days a week, have salad and veggies for all our meals and study for 12 hours a day. All this, only for us to burn out in 3 days from all the sudden pressure we put on ourselves. Yes, your body and mind are capable of great things but it’s a gradual process to reach that destination.
So what do you do?
Simple – start small.
When you’re trying to develop a new habit, ask yourself “what can I stick to – even on my worst day?” and start there.
If you think studying for 3 hours is small as compared to the 12 hours, but you can’t stick to it on your low motivation days, it’s not small enough to start. If half an hour seems manageable, start there.
Do not do more today than you can completely recover from today. Do not do more this week than you can completely recover from this week.
When we overestimate ourselves and push ourselves to the max for 3 days and then bounce back to our old habits, it is actually harder to become productive again. If you eat really clean for a couple of days but crave junk food, you’ll end up undoing your progress and landing on square one once again.
However, if you put in consistent efforts, however small they may be, you’re going to get much more results in the long term.
After all, life is a marathon, not a sprint.