Five to Fifteen Minutes a Day

Yesterday I wrote about the process of making Daily Rituals.  I want to continue that focus today.

I have learned that making progress in any area requires you to keep score of your progress.  By keeping score I mean to keep score in a public and visible way.  I have seen first hand the impact of keeping score.  This applies not just to areas of athletics but we see it in the most simple ways.  Just look around you at the number of people you notice wearing some sort of personal measurement device.  This trend is now a multi-million dollar business, with Nike creating a Rose Gold Fuel Band as people are tracking everything from their daily steps to their sleeping patterns.  The old adage is true, “You can not improve something you can not measure.”

I want to encourage you to capture the power of score keeping and daily measurement.  Here is the plan.  Today I want you to spend just five to fifteen minutes in a quiet place.  Turn off your email and all other distractions.  While you are in this quiet place choose one thing in your life you would like to improve.  Do not worry about how significant the improvement will be.  This is an exercise in consistency.  Next, determine what small daily activity would move your goal forward.  As an example, if you chose read more the small action might be read for 15 minutes each day.

Now that you have chosen your area of improvement and identified your small activity, the next thing you need to do is to find a calendar.  Choose a calendar you can hang on the wall.  The calendar will become your physical scoreboard.  Post the calendar in a prominent place it must be visible to you at all times.  Next, get a red marker and keep it beside the calendar.  Now, if you are with me so far you have earned your first check mark since you did spend 15 minutes deciding what you are going to do.  On your calendar mark a large red “X” for today.  Tomorrow you must do the small thing you chose (read for 15 minutes in our example).  Immediately after you complete your task go to the calendar and mark that big red “X.”  Do this EVERY day for the next two months.  Every day means seven days each week.

So what is the point?  Once you get enough red marks you will not want to miss a day.  You will get your red mark because the activity is small.  In about two months you will have a new habit.  Don’t set a time for doing your activity.  Just do it every day. before the day ends.

Let me know if you are willing to join me on this.  I started yesterday and have earned my two marks.  Good Luck.