Ok, disgusting factoid about myself. I didn't start flossing my teeth regularly until a little less than a year ago. And I didn't start the habit because of my own good sense. A good friend of mine started a personal campaign to floss daily stating that it has a far greater impact on overall health than many other acts that take more time and effort (not to mention it just saves your teeth and gums).
I attached flossing it to the time between brushing my teeth and bed--I never change those rituals. I don't get to lie down until I floss, period. I still don't necessarily want to. I don't enjoy it. But now I feel weird if I don't floss. Also, now my gums don't bleed.
The adage goes it takes 21 days to create a habit--I think it takes longer for it to really set in and you can still derail habits with changes in routines before the habit is really solidified.
Another habit I adopted at the same time was daily meditation. I do it shortly after I get up, before coffee and after feeding the cats. Now I feel weird if I don't go to the cushion for a sit first. I would like to say its enjoyable but its not. Meditation has many benefits but being pleasant isn't one of them.
Building new behaviors into existing routines is so important to making changes that otherwise require discipline. The point is to bypass the decision making process as much as possible so only minimal discipline is required.
One of the best pieces of advice I read last year stated simply "ritualize and have compassion for yourself". Changing your own behavior can be simple if you give yourself maximum support. Here are some things to keep in mind.
1. Your old habits have more power than your new ones. The well worn neural pathways in your brain will favor whatever it is you were doing before.The more difficult the new habit, the more energy it will require to reroute your neural pathways. The good news is that making these changes builds and enhances your brain especially if the habits are beneficial.
2. You can attach your new habit to an old habit to leverage existing behavior flows. I already brush my teeth before bed so flossing was just the matter of making sure there is dental floss next to the toothbrush and making flossing a condition of lying down. Once I'm done flossing I get a mental boost--a feeling of lightness because I completed this little task. Ahhh, dopamine!
3. Don't try to start habits during times of extreme chaos/stress. This is a no brainer--you don't start diets at Christmas.
4. Don't change more than one habit at a time--this advice I read on the No Meat Athlete website. I know, you want to change your life NOW and you want everything to happen at once. Just remember you are building new neural pathways--one is plenty for now.
5. If you miss a day on your new habit don't look at it as a character failure. You literally are changing your brain when you build habits--brain building takes energy and it takes time. The best thing you can do is start again and try to understand why you didn't do whatever habit it was you were trying to build. See if you can move things around in timing or surroundings to make the change part of your overall flow. Be sure to support yourself by drinking water and eating well. Give yourself every advantage so the change fits in naturally.
The habit I started working on the last month was drinking water when I get up (to replenish my brain). Before that it was eating a small meal with in the first half hour of my day (also to replenish my brain). I now do both without thinking. I support myself by putting a glass of water on my night stand before sleep. When I first wake up I drink the water before my feet touch the floor. After that, I go to the kitchen and make my breakfast smoothie. That goes down the hatch before I head to the cushion for meditation.
The next habit I want/need to adopt is using the foam roller consistently. This habit is difficult because the roller really hurts to use (at least it does now but I understand it gets better the more you use it). Also, the roller is bulky and long--inconvenient to use. To be successful I to make rolling part of my daily flow. I've experimented with rolling in the living room before bed but its awkward (no real room for the roller and the dog is extremely interested)--right now I have to force myself to roll which isn't effective because the pain and inconvenience are always working against me. I miss a lot of days mostly because I procrastinate. I literally hate rolling but I really need to do it...its part of my physical therapy.
My next experiment in integrating the roller will be to use it after meditation and before coffee. If I wait until after coffee I simply won't do it. So starting tomorrow morning its foam roller time between meditation and coffee. I will place the roller in my office so once I'm done meditating I can just get down to use the roller--there is enough space and the dog doesn't go in there. Hopefully when I see my PT in a week she'll be suitably pleased with my progress. At least I hope it stops hurting.
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