Create a New Habit

I’m a big fan of the ABC show, Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. It’s a reality show where obese individuals go on a year-long journey of exercise and dietary change with trainer, Chris Powell, and end up with incredible transformations.

I never had to worry about my weight, but I did have issues with motivation. I was a skinny kid and when I went to college I vowed to start lifting weights. I would work out for three months, then I’d throw in the towel. The novelty had worn off and I fell back into my old ways. A few months later, I’d psyche myself up and give it another go. Three months later, I would stop again. And, I continued this way for years. It was that three-month mark that was so hard for me to get over.

Then, one time, I got passed three o=months, then four, then five, and I have been going strong ever since, for over twenty years. It’s hard to change our habits. It’s easy to fall back into our old ways. I see it on Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. The first three to six months these folks seem to be highly motivated, but after that point their brains are trying to bring them back to that place of comfort, what they’ve always known, but Chris keeps pushing them, until their brains rewrite what is habit for them.

I believe that if yo can do anything for a year, you can do it for life. That’s the idea behind The 52-Week Challenge where I challenge couples to do something special once a week with their partner for a year, and by the end of twelve months they have created a new habit within their relationships.

Give it a shot, if you dare, and tell me what you think.