Guest Blog

July 22, 2021

1% better everyday!

Written by Daz Burns

Don’t believe that 1% can make the world of difference for you? I can’t wait to hear your comments after you read this!

It all clicked at once

You know when someone sends you a video and says “I thought of you when I saw this”? At the time, you are super grateful they thought of you …. and then you don’t watch it for two weeks…. Or two months?! Well, it happened to me and here is what I learned and I am beyond thankful I did!

We have all heard it right?!

Little by little.

Day by day.

(enter the voice of the teacher from Charlie Brown, Miss Othmar saying “wah wah wah wah”)

We know!

Small steps.

WE KNOW!

Well, a video I was sent by an awesome fellow by the name of Craig Mason really smashed this messaging out of the park for me!

It all clicked at once.

It only took me two months to get around to watching it! (Doh!)

But good golly, I am bloody glad he thought of me and I am bloody glad I kept it on my to-do list everyday to get to… albeit eventually!

The learnings

The video is a presentation led by James Clear.

Talking about four habit stages.

Noticing.

Wanting.

Doing.

Liking.

Now.

Given the opportunity at morning tea time to choose between say a healthy plate of crackers, hummus, cheese and fruit that will fill me up and fuel me forward or a plate of marshmallows and chocolate… I have to openly put my hand up to the latter being my number one choice.

Silly right?!

I 100% know better.

I know that I will feel yuck for eating crap.

I know that I will need more food sooner because I am not full.

And I know that my energy levels and my ability to concentrate will be super low.

(Quick wee disclaimer here is that this is in no way a put down of treats in moderation and enjoying every last mouthful of that sweet goodness, because I genuinely savour every bit of it and we deserve those joyful, blissful moments)

But it’s easy.

It’s right there.

And “I’m in a hurry, so this will have to do for now” is a terrible lie I tell myself far too often to justify my nutritional choices. Along with, “I just don’t have time ‘right now’ to cut cheese and fruit up”.

But James made it so simple:

Noticing – I see the chocolate and marshmallows, I am not only aware of them, I can smell them.
Wanting – I want to eat them.
Doing – I eat them.
Liking – I bloody enjoy it, so I repeat it!

But if I engineered my environment differently I would stop fighting the bad choices, because they wouldn’t be there!

James says “put more steps in between you and the bad behaviour and less between the good”.

SO EASY!

…I also have enablers who bring me sweet treats.

But it is no one’s fault but my own!

I am constantly battling bad choices because I let them be the first thing I see when I open the cupboard!

So preparation here is really the only way forward!

I HAVE to cut up the cheese and fruit in the morning.

They have to sit at the front of the fridge with the hummus.

I could also make a wee lunch box with the crackers ready to roll.

(Let’s go Daz, we got this!)

Magic in 2 minutes!

James talks about a two minute rule and that if a task, an action, job, will take less than two minutes, then to just do it, right now! Get it off your plate and into the ‘pat yourself on the back’ list for a completed job!! And let’s be honest, when you slap some perspective on it, cutting up cheese and fruit is a two minute job!

My excuses are depleting rapidly here!

Two Minutes

James also suggests that any habit can be started in two minutes. Many would argue this point, but in truth he is right! If you want to go for a run, don’t focus on the end result of completing 10km that may take you an hour to complete, focus on the first two minutes.

Of getting in the car and driving to the start point.
Or getting your shoes on and putting your dog on the lead ready to go.

James (now one of my favourite motivators) says “optimise for the starting line, not the finish line”.

So, make it as easy as possible for yourself to start on day one and repeat that start every day after to build your consistency and keep going.

On a different note of how his two minute rule can be applied, I have had an inbox of emails piling up. I have a quick triage system to assess urgency, but I never move them out of my inbox until I have replied. Lately this inbox has had an overwhelming amount of unanswered emails sitting there. Waiting. Staring at me everytime I open it up. And I have avoided them like dog shit! But after watching James this morning, his words rang in my ear “if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now!” So I did! I motored through a pile of replies! It felt so good and the anxiety went down.

And then I rewarded myself with a piece of chocolate!

I know.

I am a flawed human.

But it is day one.

And I am already 1% better than I was yesterday! ?