I did the One Push-up Challenge for a few months. One of my embarrassingly common
cues early on was right before bed (the deadline). This is an indicator of poor discipline
because I failed to fit the habit into my schedule during the day. But, instead of going
to sleep disappointed, I still went to sleep with a win (and usually, I'd get in some bonus
reps too). When you go to sleep feeling like a winner,especially if you do it for many
days in a row, it creates an internal desire to improve even more. You've heard that
success begets success, right?It's true. Successful people work harder than depressed
people because they're already successful. Success ignites passion and action. This is
what mini habits will do for you too. You'll feel successful, which will make you want
to succeed more and more. I say this not just as the author of this book and the mind
behind this system, but as its first guinea pig. I've tried a lot of other systems, and my
mini habits results crush anything else I've tried.
Back to the one push-up story: after a while of "stealing wins at the buzzer,"wanted to do
better. I began to get my push-ups in earlier. The timing still varied (different cues). This
is why it's ok to meet the minimum just before bed.It encourages you to build your own
self-discipline.True self-discipline is not when you have someone ordering you to do
push-ups, it's when you decide on your own to do them. It's SELF-discipline.
Despite my great success in reading,writing, and exercising consistently, it was weird,
because I felt like a fraud. I didn't have "habit cues." All of the popular habit books talk
about them. The science said they were essential. All I had were daily requirements and
a weekly exercise quota. This is supposed to be how people fail their habits, and yet I'm
having wild success. Why?