Just go for one more day
Tell yourself you can quit tomorrow, because tomorrow might feel different
Whenever we attempt something big, it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves. Maybe you’re training for a half-marathon and are staring down a 10 mile run a few weeks from now. You are wondering how you’re going to get through that. Or maybe you’ve decided to meditate daily, but then the idea of meditating daily for the rest of your life seems overwhelming.
So here’s an idea: Don’t think about how you’ll do this thing for the rest of your life. Just figure out how to do it today. Decide not to quit today. You can always quit tomorrow, but you can make that decision tomorrow.
Narrow the time frame
Whenever a long time frame seems overwhelming, you can narrow the time frame. People who are abstaining from alcohol learn to take things “one day at a a time.” You don’t have to worry about how to stay sober tomorrow. Just don’t have a drink tonight.
There is some real wisdom in this, even for activities that are far less consequential. In running, it’s one mile at a time. Don’t worry about the twentieth mile. Run the mile you’re in. Don’t worry about how you’ll fit in a meditation session six months from now when you can see that life is going to get even busier. Just figure out today. Who knows if you’ll feel like doing your daily journaling next week. If you can write a few sentences in that journal today, you’re good.
So if you are feeling resistance to some new desired habit, try focusing just on the next 24 hours. Do the habit today — whatever the minimal amount is required to sustain it. You can quit tomorrow if you want. That is always an option, but give yourself at least a 24 hour window to think about it.
Forever is a string of days
The odds are reasonable that, when you push quitting forward 24 hours, you’ll decide not to quit. Whatever felt terrible today won’t feel so bad tomorrow. Or tomorrow you’ll look at what you’ve bitten off and decide it’s still doable then too. So you push quitting forward another day. Forever is just a lot of days strung together. Eventually, it might seem easier. And thus a new habit is born.