I was at a party in Brooklyn on New Year’s Eve when the talk turned to resolutions. “What’s yours for 2012?” someone asked me. I shrugged. “I don’t have one,” I said. “I don’t really do resolutions.”
“Come on,” our host, my friend Christine, said. “You’re one of the few people I know who joined a gym and actually stuck with it. It’s been, what—three years now?—and you still work out all the time!”
Well, not all the time, more like four or five times a week. And it wasn’t a New Year’s or any resolution (I joined the gym in the fall) but I had to admit to the other guests that otherwise, Christine was right. I’d surprised myself and managed to turn a somewhat vague goal of getting fitter and stronger into a positive habit, one that’s good for body, mind and soul.
“How did you do it?” everyone wanted to know. “Did you hire a trainer? Did you follow some special program? What’s your trick?”
No trainer. No special program. No tricks. I just followed (and still do) one simple rule: I don’t go more than two days without exercising. (Anything that gets my heart rate up counts, even running around the playground with my nephew and nieces.)
It’s a rule that works for almost every healthy habit you'd want to develop: Don’t go more than two days without ___________. Fill in the blank with the positive change you want to make in your life.
Exercising, eating vegetables, cooking a healthy meal, connecting with a friend, writing in your prayer journal, sitting down for a family dinner, reading something that expands your horizons, singing, thinking positive, expressing gratitude … Be as specific as you like here.
Just one simple rule. Try it and let me know how it goes!
