Guiding Principles - Habits Over Will Power

A habit, by definition, is an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary. Our lives are filled with habits. Some of those habits are good habits like brushing teeth twice a day and looking both ways before crossing the street. Others can be not so good, like going out to eat for lunch every day, or spending hours in front of the TV.

The title of this post might be a bit misleading, because in my experience, it is necessary to exercise will power to form good habits. Often times, the bad habits that we form in life are due to convenience. Even though it is hard to break those habits, if you can stick with it for just a little while, it is possible to replace them with good habits. What I do know, from experience, is how difficult it is to rely on will power alone. Sure, for the first few days, or maybe even weeks, forcing yourself to go to the gym every day isn't so bad, but then burn out sets in and you just want to lay on the couch. Resisting the temptation to stop by the vending machine isn't so bad at first, but after awhile you are just "dying" of hunger and "need" that candy bar.

Below are a few examples of good habits that I have formed over time to help me along the way.

• Packing my breakfast and lunch for work instead of going to the cafeteria and out to eat every day
• Watching TV while working out in my basement gym instead of sitting in my recliner
• Keeping a calendar and planning out my weekly workouts and training routines
• Walking my dog, Hunter, every morning before work

The beauty of habits (especially good habits) is that they are hard to break. One good example of this was when my running season ended last year on Thanksgiving. I had decided ahead of time that I would decrease the number of days per week that I was running to 1 or 2 days at most and the distances down to just a couple of miles at a time. After 8 months of running 3 - 4 times per week it just didn't feel right and I was really missing the running. Of course, during that time my focus began to shift towards including other forms of exercise like swimming, biking, walking, and weight lifting. Those new exercises took a hit this week as I began running more again, but this time I expected that it would feel strange so I was ready for it. 

What is one habit that you can or have already formed to help improve your health?