Thursday, February 3, 2011

Building New Habits

All right, first week and a half of training has passed by fast. Really fast.
And the motivation is high. Really high.

I have been swimming, cycling, and running in a somehow structured manner. I have managed also to dedicate some time to two other sports that I am still learning, but that are quickly becoming new big passions of mine: cross-country skiing and free climbing.

But juggling with all these activities has been difficult. Time management has not been easy at all. I have been working very long hours in the past two weeks to deliver projects with very short timelines. Late dinners and small parties with friends have reduced my sleeping time, too.

Well, I guess I must openly confess that I have not been able to train as much or as hard as I had planned to do.

All the training related activities: waking up earlier, preparing equipment, putting clean clothes in the gym bag, taking very sweaty clothes out of the same bag (as soon as possible!), preparing better food, getting the right playlists in my Ipod (very important!), and many others have only added more chaos to an already hectic work-life schedule.

Honestly, it has been a big hassle!

Wait a minute! Am I complaining? Looking for excuses?

Truth is that my life-work-training schedule is not going to change anytime soon. Unless I win the lottery, but I guess I should increase my probabilities by buying the tickets in the first place! But I digress… The point is that this is what I have in front of me. I knew it from the beginning. It was part of the contract. And it was also a big part of the challenge that attracted me to this Superfit Project in the first place. So I should just get used to it and find the best way to put as much training as I can in a normal (well, ok, almost normal!) life.

New habits take time to build. Not much, though. Just 21 days. That's what scientist have found. But if it is actually 21 days or 30 or even 50, once you build a new habit, things get easier and many things start falling into place almost by themselves. You sense it. Becomes part of your life. It now feels like it is engrained in your skin. Like magic!

For me it’s not been 21 days, yet. So maybe this is why I have been struggling (no magic for me so far!). I do not trust science blindly, but in any case I will just keep building this new habit until I get into the rhythm of things. Maybe it will take a bit more than what scientists say, but for sure I will keep enjoying all this new craziness.

So here is the lesson for me, for us:

Whenever you are starting a Superfit Project, stick to your goal.
Stick firmly to it.
Face the challenging new game field and tasks.
But stick to your project.
Adapt it when needed.
But do stick to it.
Build the habit and try to follow this new rhythm in your life.
Keep doing it until the music, until the magic, carries you completely.

Next time I’ll be writing about how to train with only 15 minutes available per day. That’s how much training I will be able do in each of the following six days as I am currently on the plane for a work trip in lovely Paris!

In the meantime, go out and start building your new habit!

Have fun!

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