What you do every now and then doesn’t count. What matters is what you do every day. It’s about being consistent.
What aspect of this do you think this is true of for you?
One guy is consistent at walking every morning, sometimes at 5 a.m. He’s being consistent.
Another guy shows up at our networking meeting every week with printed rosters for everyone. He’s being consistent.
Someone else is at church every Sunday. That’s being consistent.
The compound effect
There is a book called The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy. (find it on Amazon) It discusses the importance of how being consistent with a habit can have huge impact on our lives. And these can be good or bad. It seems that repeated actions will seem to have little if any effect for a period of time. Then suddenly there is a big, exponential growth noticed.
As I said, this habit can be good or bad. How does one become obese? There’s no sudden need to eat a whole pie after dinner each night. It starts slowly and then suddenly they are buying double XL T shirts. Their overeating became a habit and the weight mushroomed into an unhealthy state.
I do pride myself in being consistent.
- If you sit near me here at the Tuesday morning networking meetings, you will see that I am consistent at taking my daily strip of vitamins.
- You will find me at the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:15 a.m.
- I drink a glass of water first thing every morning.
- I floss my teeth every day. I am being consistent.
Why is this important?
Health habits are very important to maintaining our lifestyle. As time progresses, we are no longer able to stand without a groan, sprint across the street or keep up with a friend on a walk. Vacations become more sedentary as one cannot walk or climb as much as when they were younger.
I encourage my massage clients and my customers to look at what their health habits have become and those they may want to incorporate into their routines.
Exercise.
While we are very consistent with our breathing, we are not always in control of how we breathe. It is usually pretty shallow. How do we develop a habit of breathing deeper, longer breaths?
We can take that power and control back. Here is an exercise to help improve your breathing that can add stamina to your day, help you relax more and improve your sleep.
Sit comfortably with your hands in your lap. Take note of your breathing. Are you breathing into your throat? Your chest? Your lower abdomen?
To help you be more conscious of the depth of your breathing, get an ordinary balloon.
Blow into the balloon and quietly let the air out of the balloon. Where did your effort to blow up the balloon come from?
Blow into the balloon again and make an effort to use your lower abdomen to push the air into the balloon. Empty as much air as you can into the balloon. Release the air from the balloon.
Repeat this procedure a few more times. Slow down if you get light headed. This may be something you need to work up to.
Using your powers of consistency, do this on a daily basis. You will notice an easier process of breathing. Be aware if you have increased stamina. What is happening with your sleep after being consistent with this for a period of time?
Moving forward
Think about your health habits. Commit to one new habit that you will take on for the next 30 days. I feel certain that the compound effect will happen for you.
