Day 1361

Day 1/100

Approximately 20 days ago, inspired by Nathan Barry, I embarked on a new journey. I set out to form two new habits that would help enrich and grow my career. You can read all about it here.

Tl; Dr: I started strong, only to fall flat on my face in just a couple of days, so much so that I could feel the pinch on the second day. Safe to say, I did not last long after that. Many things happened in the following days, leading me to miss my commitment. The sad part was that I could see it coming; I would warn myself, but I still messed it up. I gave all sorts of reasons - weekends, honey-do lists, vacations. Sigh!

A one-day break became two and then three. Soon, a whole week went by without me putting the slightest thought or effort into getting back on track.

Going into this experiment, I told myself this would be hard. And it was HARD.

In hindsight, I realize they were not warnings but excuses. I did a great job finding excuses. Later, I would feel bad for myself for seeing it coming but still not overcoming the situation. The fact was that I was cooking up the excuse in advance and then following through with it.

During the experiment, I acknowledged that forming new habits is more challenging than it sounds. So, instead of aiming for clean streaks, I focused more on the habit itself, allocating time for it and the ideation process. I did give myself some grace, but I failed to recover.

The Reset

I was on a weeklong summer getaway! Going into the vacation, I knew I would not be able to stick with my commitments, or I made myself believe so. Well, Guess what? I did not follow through with my commitment.

I decided to use this downtime as a reset. Either way, I was not doing anything to get back on track. I was more at peace once I allowed myself to take a break, regroup, and restart the process.

There is something forgiving about a RESET—a new beginning—a whole new world with limitless possibilities. I am looking forward to that. But at the same time, I realize that this easy escape is holding me back from reaching my full potential.

Whenever I hit a roadblock, I hit reset instead of addressing the issue and learning from it. This time, one last time, I get the luxury of a reset.

So, What’s next? My new Next-100 experiment kicks off today, and this is my first post. I am still committing to the same set of habits.

What’s changing?

Nothing!

Like I said, this is just a reset!

It is still more about committing to the habit and its long-term benefits, including career and personal brand growth.

I still plan to take no breaks this time around. Even if I miss a beat, I want to pick it back up immediately. Again, the focus is getting into the habit, allocating the time for it, and the whole ideation process.

This commitment is as much a challenge of mental strength and determination as it is to write or code.

Even though I don’t feel like I do, I waste a lot of time mindlessly binge-watching videos on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. I aim to reclaim this time and use it to work on myself.

I have set up a tracker to publicly track this experiment. If you want to cheer me on, contact me on LinkedIn. I would love a few encouraging messages.