Why The Initial Stages Of Building New Habits Are Always The Hardest?

Fear. Excitement. Nervousness. Success?

The brain fuels on growth and constant change. It’s human nature to commence a new task even if we haven’t completed the one at hand. Filled with panic and the concern to succeed, more often than not we end up doing both tasks miserably. It might take 21 days to build a habit, but those couple of days can define the next 21 years of your life.

Redesigning lifestyle patterns is not as effortless as it sounds. At this stage, you are your only hero. You have to run on, just for yourself. There’s no one to encourage you. This is one of the prime reasons why the initial stages are always the hardest. Mankind is hungry for instant rewards. Most addictive and destructive habits have a built-in reward system that requires little or no input. On the other hand, many positive habits such as exercise, meditation, focused work, and healthy eating don’t have immediately obvious rewards. Ergo, we tend to give up right away.

For many of us, our morning routine is our strongest one, so that’s a great place to stack on a new habit. When these habits become unbreakable, they turn into behavior, and that reflects in one’s personality. For instance, I don’t use any screen at least for the first thirty minutes of waking up. I also try to read a few pages of my favorite novel upfront, which leans my mood towards the jovial side. In contrast, there are n number of individuals whose days start with scrolling through WhatsApp or Instagram. This is quite detrimental in the long run as it soon becomes a habit and then the inevitable notifications become the only thing they look forward to at daybreak.

When it comes to building habits and routines, we all start with a lot of excitement which continues for a stretch of two days, and then slowly dies down. Every person has come across this sitch one time or the other and not all of us know how to conquer this.

To paint a clearer picture of my prompt, let me give you a case in point. My dad always used to pester me to go cycling every morning. I didn’t precedent what he meant then, but now I know. That one round of cycling unclouds my mind out for the entire day and the misty, cold morning air clears all my senses first off. This made me realize that only you can help yourself to build a greater version of you.

Greatness takes time, building an exceptional life takes time, and building exceptional habits that make you an exceptional human being take time. Patience is the key to success and don’t have anyone else tell you otherwise.