[AKN #62] How to change a habit in 434 days
LAUGH: Whitney Cummings, LOVE: What on Earth is Going on with Shipping
Sup homies?
I am back in San Francisco now after an exciting trip to Palm Desert.
It was a great trip, however this morning I woke up to realize that I had not written ANYTHING yet for the newsletter (this very one you are reading!)
I better not waste any more time and get to writing!
So let’s skip the foreplay and go straight into the post.
On to the newsletter!
LIVE: How to change a habit in 434 days
The making of a sustainable writing routine
Any moron can create a habit that lasts for two months.
I should know because I have been that moron for many years.
I fluctuate wildly between new phases of self improvement — the telltale sign of an Optimale — changing my focus more often than Lady Gaga changes outfits during a concert.
I laser focus on fitness. I lose weight.
Then I realize I let my work life go a bit so I need to get back in balance. I gain weight.
Do I make progress on a goal? Yes. In the short term.
But in the long term I will often end up back in the same place I started.
This yo-yoing of attention is the bane of my existence.
Worded differently, I am outstanding at developing a new habit for 27 days, but sustaining that habit for 270 or 2,700 days is something that I generally am not good at.
However, for the first time in the history of me, I have done something consistently enough that I believe I may have cracked my personal psychological code for maintaining a habit long term (Note: different than the way I think about short term habit change),
Enter my writing routine.
As we sit here now, I have written this newsletter for 62 consecutive weeks.
It is the longest “positive habit” I have started and maintained unbroken in my entire life.
I can distill why this habit was different down to one sentence:
I developed an effective, sustainable routine which I was held accountable for executing.
If you have these conditions in place, you can start and maintain any habit for as long as you need.
Want to lose weight? Develop a sustainable diet and exercise routine which results in weight loss you are held accountable for doing.
Want to learn programming? Follow a class or a build a project which results in gaining the desired skills and be held accountable for completing it.
I honestly believe it is as simple as that.
I am going to work with this simple framework to try and create some lasting change in other domains rather than the flash in the pan stuff I am great at doing already.
LAUGH: Whitney Cummings on what it takes for a man to get called crazy
Whitney Cummings is in my top five comedians right now.
Her delivery is so polished and her content is so strong.
Even when she is doing crowd work, she is fire. Like at 4:50 she absolutely roasts this dude in the crowd and it might be the funniest part of an already stellar act.
Also I had the pleasure of seeing her in person right before the world shut down for COVID and can confirm she is funny even outside of specials.
LOVE: Global supply chain is a hot mess
This series of graphics is pretty eye popping.
What on Earth is going on with shipping right now!
And why am I so interested in shipping right now!
Closing time
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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are strictly my own. Who else’s would they be?
Mahalo,
Kevin