They say there is no such thing as overnight success. Well, I’m an overnight success when it comes to habits.
I can drop and pick up habits, literally overnight. It’s not spectacular. No huge changes. No crazy, outrageous declaration. I just do it. Nobody notices.
And suddenly, I have a new thing I’m practicing, every single day.
On the outside it’s super lame – big whoop, so now a guy flosses every day – but when you know that habits are how you win the game of life, this actually isn’t quite so lame at all.
An example: I love coffee. I have 2 cups a day on average, one with breakfast and one after lunch. One day in 2015, my then-girlfriend said:
“You know coffee can be addicting, right?”
“Fine, then I’ll just stop drinking it.”
“Yeah, right, you love coffee.”
“And?”
The next day, I made myself peppermint tea instead of coffee. For the next 90 days, I didn’t drink anything that had caffeine in it, and that was that.
Some other habits I’ve done this with:
- Quit drinking (dropped it overnight for 2 years).
- Setting priorities for the next day at night (did it for 3 months).
- Wake up at 5 AM (did it for 3 months).
- Cold showers (did it for 1.5 years).
- Writing (started 1.5 years ago).
- No email before 11 AM (almost 2 years ago, used this).
- Quit biting my nails (my hands were shaking all day the first day, kept it up for ~6 months, now it’s on and off)
They say it takes 20 years to become an overnight success. Collecting the right set of habits along the way is crucial, or you’ll never get there. At least I’m good at getting off the starting line.
Maybe one day, I can be a real overnight success.
See you in 20 years.
