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Here’s an example of a habit I am trying to develop:

Habit of running on a regular basis.

Note, this time my goal is not necessarily to walk/jog/run for 21 or 30 days or so. My goal is to improve my stamina.

I run out of breath even if I have to run for 20 metres, or if I have to climb 20 stairs. So much so that I can not talk and it takes me quite a while to catch my breath.

This was to be a life long habit! As having good stamina helps in a lot of different aspects of life. That’s why it was necessary for me to develop a habit of regularly running first! Once I had developed the habit, then I could go ahead and try to perfect my technique.

Trick is to start slowly! Sooo ridiculously slow that you’d feel silly to skip a day. And do each step every single day! Remember the point is to develop a habit first! That can only really be done by consistency!

Week 1 – wear shoes, dress up, get out the door and then come back in

Week 2 – get dressed and go down the elevator and then come back up

Week 3 – walk 5 mins (could be on the treadmill in the gym in my building, or a walk outside)

Week 4 – walk for 10 mins

Week 5 – walk for 15 mins

Week 6 – walk for 15 mins with 2 30 sec jogs thrown in, so could be walk for 7 mins, jog for 30 secs, walk for another 7 mins, jog for another 30 secs, walk for another 5 mins for a total or 20 mins

Week 7 – walk for 20 mins with 4 30 sec jogs thrown in

Week 8 – walk for 2 mins, jog for 30 sec, then repeat until 20 mins are up

Week 9 – walk for 2 mins, jog for 2 mins, repeat until 20 mins are up

I could not complete week 9 properly due to low carb diet I was trying during the same time. I had incredible lack of energy during that period. So much so that I felt faint on many occasions even after 5 minutes of walking, even though I was eating a lot and drinking a lot of water. I was just careful to limit my carbohydrates.

Anyhow, had to stop mid way for a few days because of my diet experiment (more on that later). Following week I started again but I felt I had lost my rhythm.

I still wanted to build stamina though so started researching different ways of improving it.

Came across High intensity interval training (HIIT). This really appealed to me.

Basically, you jog for a few minutes, then go all out sprinting for 15-30 seconds, then light jog again until heart rate comes down, then sprint again and so on.

Week 9: total time 10 mins; with 2 30 sec 8 mph sprints in between (treadmill) – 2 times a week; with 5+ mins of walking on rest of the days

Week 10: total time 10-15 mins; with 2 30 sec 9.5 mph sprints in between (treadmill) – 2 times a week; with 5+ mins of walking on rest of the days

Week 11: total time 15+ mins; with 3 15 sec 10.5 mph sprints in between (treadmill) – 2 times a week; with 5+ mins of walking on rest of the days

Instead of following a strict regiment of jogging for 2 mins, then sprinting for 30 secs, I just sprint for 15-30 secs then wait for my heart rate to come below 140 then I sprint again, whether that’s with in 2 mins or 4 mins.

I’m finding that it’s hard to really sprint very fast on a treadmill. I feel like I am going to fall down!

So, next session I’ll try HIIT outside!

“Eat right, exercise regularly, die anyway.” – Unknown author

What if you are an ambitious person? What if you have learned to motivate yourself? What if you are a goal oriented person? What if you are getting your life back on track? What if you have started earning a decent income? What if your credit rating is improving? What if your debt is finally being paid off? And what if you do not even gossip anymore?

Then you realize that something somewhere is missing. You set more goals, improve some areas of your life and yet a little voice inside your head keeping nagging you. To make sure you discipline yourself you try to be more efficient, you manage time better, you get more work done.

Then you get sick! You ignore it and hoping that if you just work through it, it’ll just go away. That’s not the case. It gets worse. You finally decide to take one day off of work to rest and get better. Now you’re better and you are back on track.

Instead of taking that as a warning you go at full speed again and the same cycle repeats next month.

That’s been the story of my life for the past six months or so. I started noticing that every single month I was getting sick. I even started doing cardio every single morning but the next month I got sick again. I finally started taking vitamin C but again I got sick. I am eating almost 100% diet consisting of organic foods. So, what is the problem?!!

It is not that I mind getting sick. It’s just that it slows me down quite a bit. Also, I am on a contract so I get paid for the time I am at work. If I have to take a day off at work, either I lose the pay for that month or make up that time.

Finally I started taking one a day multi-vitamin and vitamin C. This month again I felt the fever coming on but I was able to fight it and I did not need to take a day off work. So, I think the combination of multi-vitamins and vitamin C is doing the trick.

Granted that I sometimes skip breakfast but overall I am still eating at least 3 meals a day. I have come to the conclusion that even though diet plays a major role in keeping you healthy, it’s not the only thing. I think your state of mind plays an even bigger role. If you are not unconditionally happy then your health suffer regardless of how good your diet is.

“Preserving the health by too strict a regimen is a wearisome malady.” – François Duc de la Rochefoucauld

I think I have been a little too strict with my diet. I have been eating a diet of the foods that I do not actually enjoy. I never really look forward to any meal. I am just having meals because it’s what I should be doing and I get hungry. I am going to start having more of the things that I actually enjoy. I do not eat unhealthy anyways so I think I do not have to worry about getting fat etc.

It’s not just that I am eating really healthy food that I do not enjoy it’s also the poverty consciousness. When I did not have enough money I would buy foods that were the cheapest regardless of what happened to my health. I would look for the special deals and the cheapest deals were always at McDonalds, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and so on. If I was at a coffee shop I would just get the tea because it was cheaper than coffee and also drinking tea killed the appetite so I did not need to buy food. All of this ruined my health as well.

That is actually exciting! I seem to have found the cause of my bad health. I am going to have food that I really enjoy regardless of the cost. If I really feel like having something then I am going to have it. I get really excited when I set new goals. So, I am going to set some new and different goals now. Looks like another 30 day challenge is coming up. I will keep you posted.

“Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.” – Redd Foxx

I used to wonder about people who achieved great success. I wanted to know exactly how they thought, what they felt and how they would approach goals differently than average people.

Once I was listening to Mike Ferry, real estate trainer, and he said that there were three things in life that if you could do those, you could do anything. That was a really exciting time for me since now I was going to find out the real secret and yardstick by which I could measure myself. Following were the three things according to him:

1) keep your house clean

2) manage your health

3) manage your finances

I have to say that I was a little disappointed. I expected something out of this world. I was ready with the right emotions and expressions, ready to stand up in awe and applaud but I was a little under whelmed by his statement.

He went onto challenge people to try it out. All I have to say is that I am still trying it out. It just seems easy at first glance but every single one of these is very challenging. Take for instance the discipline required to keep your house clean. There is just so much involved even in keeping the house clean day by day, every single day. If you break down the topic of health and finances you can realize how difficult this really is.

But since time is passing anyways, may as well get started. Slowly but surely we can achieve success in these areas. One small step at a time. With each small step successfully accomplished we will definitely be better off than we are now.

If we do not choose our goals, life will choose them for us. And it is a very exciting journey.

Like Earl Nightingale used to say “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”