Awesome article. Those tips really help an introvert (which I am, frankly) to get the mindset ready for changes. Also, just a quick thought: there’s a quote that reads: “A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step” (sadly, I don’t remember what the source is) and I thought it can enrich the action of thinking about change and following your tips.
Just an idea: let’s find or make an extremely aesthetic photograph or drawing, put the quote on it, put it into a frame and hang it in the place we do the workouts. It should serve us by reminding ourselves about our mission and adding some meaning to it, as well.

Nice article, you raise some great points. Procrastination is sooo easy. I have another tip for you — get other people involved. I recently started this exercise challenge thing with my mom and sister where we pledged to work out 6 days a week and for every day we didn’t work out we owed $10. For us — enough to make us think twice about not working out, but not enough to make us shirk from taking this on in the first place. It’s worked pretty amazingly I have to say. (I’m particularly amazed at my mom who’s in her 60s). Anyways, psychological trickery and peer (or family) pressure — works every time ;)

Stay tuned.

Congrats on your award at CEO Reads, and thanks as well for the link love. I enjoy and look forward to your posts. Take care,

Cindy

I need to push myself some – and I agree. Making patterns is good. They guide us and push us. Not everyone needs them (as an Aries I *fight* them tooth and nail but I need some) but I need to refocus. I’m trying to figure out how to procrastinate less (hello twitter & F5) and focus more. This helps me think about how to do that.

Thank you for this post. And all the other ones. I’m grateful every time I see them in my RSS Feed.

I think the voice in our heads that sneakily say “take it easy, lots of time” are the biggest killers of moving forward on the important stuff. I think being mindful is critical which is where meditation really helps. I don’t do enough meditation. The exercise part is sure important.

Having said all that, there is one area that can be tricky, and that is when you get so rigid with the things you “have to do” that you can’t break them once in a while. I think it’s important to be able to NOT go to crossfit occasionally thus breaking your pattern, and you should not feel guilty about it.

To much rigidity and the feeling that you are failing could be a sign of addiction. I don’t believe any kind of addiction is good, even if its end result is something healthy like fitness (heck, I workout at a fitness company called Endorphin Junkies – so there’s irony given my thoughts on addiction).

Great post, as usual.

P.S. I’m abbreviating my language in case anyone who’s offended by the Media Hacks podcast won’t write me a nasty-gram! I’m guessing those folks don’t really read your blog…

People *need* patterns. They reduce the traffic noise in our heads. If we can make certain aspects of our life routine–purposefully mindless–that frees up vast amounts of space in our brain that would otherwise be actively thinking about doing this, that, or the other thing.

Physical patterns (like regularly working out) also serve a specific purpose–they help git rid of energy that might otherwise be spent dithering and fidgeting. By providing a productive outlet for that energy, you can free up mind space–and physical energy–to work on those things like creativity and game changing that require mental focus and, frankly, physical effort.

Patterns help us infuse intention into our actions. They turn mindless activities (procrastination, for instance, in all its forms) that *don’t* serve our goals into mindless activities that *do*. They’re the scaffolding that help support our personal building efforts.

Yes, used rigidly, they can be prisons. But a pattern that’s become rigid has likely also become disconnected from its original purpose, and is, therefore, out of balance with our needs.

To me that’s total bullshit. I think its all about finding your own rhythm…I remember a book I read where they said you should create your own game remember?

Rigidity only brings guilt. Who the hell wants to live like a machine. Hell yes I sometimes procrastinate and enjoy it! The hell with the accountants…Bah…Tomorrow!…

I can hardly wait to read the post in which you start saying that this regimen has killed your creativity and turned you into a task master…

I dunno, being in business as long as I have, I pretty much tried all those get up an go strategies to become this or that. But in the end, I figured out that I am only happy when I allow myself to be what I really am…

My 2 cents worth…

Thoreau puts it well: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”