Don’t Break The Chain

Till a couple of months back-

• Every morning, I used to run 7 km.

• I used to be very conscious of my diet every day. I ate healthy, limited portions, and avoided sweets.

• Every day, I read for at least an hour.

Then, my family and I went on a 20-day vacation to India to attend a family wedding.

Knowing I was taking a holiday- just to keep to my good habits, I could have been resolute about my choices. 

• I could have gone for a stroll for 30 minutes instead of running for 7 kilometers every morning. 

• Instead of eating rich food and consuming a lot of sweets daily, I could have been moderate on regular days and indulged during the wedding festivities.

• Instead of trying to read a book for an hour every day, I could have chosen to commit to just 15 minutes of reading.

Sadly, I didn’t make those choices, and I broke my habit chain knowingly.

I’ve been back in Malaysia for a couple of months now, and the three good habits I developed have become old habits. I have been unable to reactivate my good habits for a variety of reasons- a lot of work travel, very busy, moving house, etc. 

They are not reasons, unfortunately. They are excuses I am giving myself.

Good habits are like the links in a chain. No matter how consistent you were in the past, once you break the chain of consistency, everything resets. The effort and discipline required to restart your good habits will be the same as when you started earlier.

Here is what I have realized.

Maintaining a good habit takes much less effort and discipline than starting one. So, if you have some good habits going in your life, the operating principle should always be, don’t break the chain- of your good habits.