One Measly Mile
Why the hardest part of any habit is the first few feet
Most mornings I don’t feel like getting out of bed. Or at least, if I want to get up, I certainly don’t want to do anything active. But over the past couple of months, I’ve been forcing myself to get up and go for a walk.
“Just do a mile,” I say to myself as I gather up my shoes. The weather has been beautiful lately, which helps. And I either walk with Meg or read a book on my morning stroll. People poke fun of me for reading while walking. And I probably will get run over, fall into a ditch, or break my ankle on a twig one day because of it. But I’ve found wanting to finish my latest Fredrik Backman obsession has been a tremendous motivator for getting started.
But a curious thing has happened by making myself walk a mile.
I usually walk more.
Sometimes I don’t have the time. But I typically want to keep walking. Maybe two miles. Sometimes up to three. I like to walk in the evenings with my wife and the neighbors. I’ll even take a little walk at lunch sometimes if the workday (and sweltering heat) permit it.
I’ve heard lots of people talk about this type of principle over the years. James Clear has the Two-Minute Rule. Shawn Achor talks about “activation energy.” And I just learned that Katy Milkman from Wharton calls something similar “temptation bundling.” She conducted a study that found people’s gym attendance increased when they were only permitted to listen to interesting audiobooks at the gym.
Google tells me this is related to behavioral activation. Back when I was a consistent runner, we just said the hardest part of running is putting on your shoes.
This principle has held in many areas of my life. When I wanted to start writing for my own mental health, I decided to start small. But once I got myself into the habit, I found myself wanting to do more. Same with reading. I started the year with a two-books-per-month goal. But once I really started reading (and working on improving my attention span), I found myself wanting to read more and more.
Our positive habits are fragile.
Life gets in the way sometimes. I stayed up way too late last night working on a sermon for this Sunday. I missed my morning routine because I didn’t peel myself out of bed in time to go for my walk. I’ve been dragging today. Not just from being sleepy, but I’ve felt generally sluggish. A stop at Starbucks certainly helped, but I’ve still felt off all day.
But the good news about a daily habit is that you get to start again tomorrow. All you have to do is go one measly mile.