Day 6 of 40: Waking up by 5am (FAIL)

Yes, I chalked up yet another fail Sunday morning, but it sure felt good to sleep in until 8am!

I think Saturday and Sunday mornings will ultimately be the toughest days to wake up at 5am and I hope that by the end of my 40-day experiment that I will be able to overcome the tendency to sleep in on the weekends.

When it comes to creating new positive habits in life I think consistency is a very important component to ensuring that the change is long-term versus short-lived. All too often we set goals, get off to a great start and then fizzle out after a week or two or three of concerted effort. Sound familiar? (It is January 23, after all, and many people may have already given up on their New Year's Resolutions)

Part of the reason for that kind of quick rise-and-fall failure is due to a tendency in human nature to try and do too much too soon.

We get fed up with being sick, tired, weak and lethargic so we resolve to hit the gym for an hour or hour and a half every day. Well, as great as that sounds, it is simply not sustainable over the long-term! The key to consistent success is to determine what small and simple steps could be taken, every day, that are sustainable for the rest of your life. Rather than a 60-90 daily workout plan, a simple 15-minute walk, three days a week, would be a much better place to start.

The idea is to start where success is easy; you are making it easy so that it is difficult to fail. This principle is well defined in The Compound Effect and The Slight Edge. I highly recommend both books/programs.

Granted, I probably should have taken my own advice and not made such a drastic commitment to wake up so early everyday. However, there certainly are times when the extreme cold-turkey plan is better than just easing into something new. As long as the long-term commitment is there, then the hardcore no-holds-barred approach to life change can certainly work wonders, too!

Just be prepared for some fails along the path of progression, for it is through overcoming failure that we find out who we really are.