Frictionless Habit Formation.

Good habits are hard to form but easy to maintain, while Bad Habits are easy to form but hard to break. “As the saying goes, Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Routines, habits, regimens, drills, reps, and consistency are some of the tools champions use to elevate and become great. One unintended positive consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it allowed most people to form new habits. One of the habits I have stuck with since the beginning of the lockdown is meditation. It has changed my life as it is one of the first things I do in the first three hours of waking up.

As of this morning, I am on an 864-day streak of non-stop meditation. I use the Calm guided meditation of my three favourite guides: Daily Jay with Jay Shetty, Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt and Daily Trip with Jeff Warren. It could a bit of stumbling to get to these level of consistency and like any good habit, it is easy to stay consistent with when one has a strong Why. Meditation has taught me many lessons, such as radical acceptance, patience, impermanence and staying present. By focusing on breathing, one can take control of any situation.

One of the strategies that have helped me to consistent meditate for over two years non-stop is “Frictionless Habit Formation”. Removing friction from the meditating process made it easier to execute daily.

– Meditate at the same spot daily.
– Decide that you are going to meditate daily, and in the process, you begin to see yourself as someone who meditates.

The frictionless habit formation strategy has also served me well in the process of forming other habits, such as:

Reading: I listen to a French audiobook while preparing for work in the morning.
Fitness Regimen: I listen to a podcast or book while exercising or running.
Frictionless Exercising: I sleep in Gym clothes when I want to run or go to the gym in the morning.

Meditations

Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt – Obstacles

Obstacles will naturally rise. We observe whatever comes up and work with it, no matter how pleasant or unpleasant it feels. This is the practice of observing whatever arises with acknowledgement and acceptance, allowing obstacles to come and go. We often think of obstacles as distractions from real life, but really, they are part of our training. Whatever comes up in life trains us.

“Obstacles do not block the path. They are the path”

Daily Jay with Jay Shetty – Wanting vs. Liking

The thrill of the chase comes from dopamine. What we want becomes secondary to the pursuit. While dopamine is great at getting us to take action, it doesn’t help us decide whether we should. It doesn’t help us evaluate the validity of our rationale. It just tells us to go get it. It encourages us to be impulsive. We only receive dopamine when we are chasing the object of our desire; once we obtain it, the dopamine disappears.

Wanting only equals liking if what we get makes good on its promise. We entraced by the outside and as the song goes “We get hooked on a feeling”. When that dopamine floods our brain, we need to pause and exercise discernment. To figure whether our wanting will lead to liking. Extending the gap between excitement and action gives you a chance for your dopamine to die down and in that time, you can consider the pros and cons. Calculate the likelihood of liking with clarity because, at the end of the day, all that glitters is not gold.

Daily Trip with Jeff Warren – Field of Presence

A home base can be the sensation of a breath at the nostrils, or the belly or it could be the sound of the wind or distant traffic or the soft feeling of air on your skin.

Podcast