30 Days January 11, 2006
Today marks 30 days since December 12, the day I started getting up early to exercise. I made a deal with myself then that I was going to stick with this for 30 days, and then I could make a decision to either continue for another 30 days or quit.
I’m going to continue.
30 days is a good time frame to judge this kind of change in your habits. A week or two is too short - the routine hasn’t had a chance to take hold yet, and you can’t really judge what effect it’ll have on your life. Longer than 30 days seems like an eternity, and it’s harder to commit yourself.
I think that’s why so many New Years Resolutions fail - people ‘commit’ to making a change with no timeframe in mind, so it doesn’t feel like they’re working towards an achievable goal. Within a week or two, the change starts to feel like a drag, with no end in sight, and they don’t seem to be getting any benefit from it. They miss a day or two, and then never seem to really get back on the horse. Within a month, the resolution is broken and they’ve reverted back to their old ways.
I know I’ve done that!
If you commit to a change for 30 days, it’s going to feel achievable. It’s only a month out of your life, so if it doesn’t bring you the benefits you want you haven’t really lost anything. You can put other stuff on hold for 30 days while you work on this one change, without feeling like your whole life is being turned upside down. If the change is uncomfortable, you have an end in sight so you’re more likely to be able to stick it out instead of just quitting.
Steve Pavlina has written a great article on this idea of committing to change for just 30 days at a time: 30 Days To Success.
Now seems like a good time to review what’s happened over the last 30 days for me.
Weight
My weight this morning was 106 kg (234 lbs), so I’ve lost about 3 kg (6.6 lbs) since starting to walk in the mornings. It’s a little bit noticeable - I’ve gone down to the next hole on my belt, and someone at work asked if I was losing weight because my face looked thinner - but not huge. I think maybe part of the weight loss has been offset by muscles putting on weight and getting into shape. So this month has probably been more one of weight redistrubtion, rather than one of weight loss. If that’s true, hopefully I’ll lose even more weight next month.
Still, 3 kg lost over the Christmas gorging period is not bad! Many more people put weight on than lose weight during this time of year.
Fitness
This is the area I’m most pleased with over the past 30 days. I used to sometimes be slightly out of breath just climbing the stairs at work or walking up my driveway, but now those things are no problem at all. For the first 2 or 3 weeks of walking, I’d come home with quite sore and tired legs. Now my muscles seem to be accustomed to the exercise, and they can handle it fine. I can run much further than I could at the start of all this, and I have more energy during the rest of the day as well.
Sleep
Despite getting up half an hour earlier than I used to, I feel more alert during the day. I sleep better during the night, too.
- Posted in : Goals, Measuring Progress, Motivation
- Author : admin
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