Using forfeits

I’ve just come across a really good idea about maintaining positive powerful daily habits, once again from Leo Babauta’s latest book, Zen Habits.

I’ve been very successful with my run a mile each day habit, but not quite so good with other habits, such as daily writing or daily business development work.

In Zen Habits Leo theorises that when you miss a day of your daily habit, you often beat yourself up, which makes it much harder to pick the habit up again the next day. 

I completely agree with this and I’ve had situations where this has been the case.

When you’re feeling bad, perhaps guilty and thinking that you’re a bit of a failure, you’re not in your most resourceful and creative state. 

What you should be doing when you miss a day is coming from a positive state of mind, working out what derailed you and what you need to do to adjust things so that it doesn’t happen again.

So if you set a rule that it's OK to miss a day, but set yourself a forfeit if you miss two days in a row, it works better.

That way you’re in a more positive state of mind to ensure you don't miss the next day, and to adjust your plans so it’s not so easy to miss another day for the same reason.

I’ll give it a go and let you know how it pans out.