Falling out of routine on something is not an immediately noticeable phenomenon. Often, it starts slow, missing a day, making a singular excuse, and then it cascades into missing multiple days. Eventually, you stop whatever it is altogether. Usually, hopefully, you notice this regression before you completely cease to do whatever activity you’re intending on maintaining. This point in time realization is a key moment for you to realign your intentions and bring yourself back to the right path. It’s important to not fault yourself for wandering off path, because truthfully, it’s inevitable. Sometimes it’s caused by something, like a lapse, or relapse, other times it just happens. As a human being, being inconsistent is natural. Forming habits and sticking to them isn’t some guaranteed reality. Dedication and consistency are incredibly hard to cultivate within oneself. Honestly, that’s part of the reason why I am so impressed with many professional athletes, because in order to perform at that level, you must have incredible will power to maintain proficiency.
So when the inevitable fall off happens, what do you do to get back on track? How does one, “reel it back in”? Before I go on answering those questions, I want to confess my own reasoning for this analysis. Many times in my life, I’ve established a path for myself, then succulently deviated by a matter of slowly falling off. Take the book for example. Ideally it is a daily activity to check in with it, to check myself. It’s a silent accountability partner, a reflection of my own mentality. The book provides to me a measure of progress. Without the book, progress is untracked and undirected. Not staying consistent with the book, is undoubtedly correlated with falling out of routine with all other aspects of my life. So this inquiry of how to get back on track is vital for me to stay honest to my long term objectives.
There are a few strategies worth considering to support the reorientation of direction and reignition of positive momentum. The first step of course is identifying the situation. Catching yourself falling out of routine should be a humongous red flag. Alarm bells should be going off. Do not press the snooze button on those feelings. Listen and learn from them. To ignore that realization is to be complicit in your own failure to stay true to yourself. You must do something about it, and quick, immediately if you can. Do not delay, do not hesitate, act. What to do, though, what to do? Do it, duh! But it’s not always that easy. Let me be clear, addressing the fall off is more than just “getting back on the path”. You need to get back on the path, look back, look forward, and give yourself a nice lil push to get moving again. What’s that look like practically?
Three things: retrospection, dream, and simplify.
Retrospection comes in many forms. Looking back on where you came from, commending your progress, identifying pitfalls, and loving your journey are so key. For me, this comes in a few shapes. I will flip back through the pages of my book and cross off the things I’ve done days after initially writing them. This gives me an opportunity to realize the productivity of days past. Identify and substantiate the progress I’ve made. Each crossed off activity is a step in the right direction. To see those past steps taken gives me confidence in my ability to take more in the future. Progress is often so slow that it’s hard to feel at any point along the way. You can feel a single step, or series of steps, but it’s so difficult to feel the hundreds, thousands, of steps you’ve taken that have gotten you to where you are today. Try your hardest to feel that collective of minute positive movements, they are a culmination of your hard work. Celebrate your progress, pat yourself on the back, tell yourself “good job”. Don’t dwell on the past, respect it and turn toward the future.
Dream. This is also a common time for me to write a note to self. Especially if it has been a while since my last reflection. It’s a moment for me to commemorate. My note to self messages are often very forward looking. Charging myself up for what I wish to become. They come with a mix of congratulations, and medium term goal setting. Perhaps your journey is taking a previously unexpected change in direction, perhaps the path has narrowed, or the terrain has changed. Something has occurred to make the future unlike the past, don’t expect to continue on successfully without a change inexecution. “What has gotten us here is insufficient to get us further.” Take time to plan how you will address the future path. Reassess your routine and make the necessary modifications to accommodate your reality.
Simplify. Declutter your life, shed the weight you’ve been carrying before you move forward. This could be chores around the house for instance. I know for myself that laundry and dishes are a fantastic indicator of my mental cleanliness. How do you expect to move forward on your journey without clearing the pathway, without dropping the weight of past travels? See if there is a way to grease the wheels of your vehicle. For example, put the book “in your way” so you can’t neglect it in the morning when you arise. Ensure you have the right food in the fridge and pantry for meals. Spend a moment prepping for the week ahead so you have a clear runway to gain momentum on. These activities will get you moving, baby steps as you spin up your engine, and alleviate the stress of the first few big steps you will take as you begin moving back in the right direction.
Then go. Take a deep breath, and move forward. Repeat to yourself your mantra. Believe in yourself and get moving. Momentum is built over time, not instantly. Remember that. Respect that. Immediate gratification is a myth, a farce, a facade, a siren beckoning you’d be best to reject. What you’re working toward will take time to earn. Don’t be hard on yourself for not already being where you want to be. Be hard on yourself for expecting everything from nothing. They say Rome wasn’t built in a day. The pyramids, or the great wall, weren’t erected overnight. Effort over time yields results, it’s your job to put in that effort, it’s your responsibility to continue to put in that effort over time. Do it, results will come.
P.S. It feels like I’ve written this post before. Which is a testament to the reality of falling off.