The Winning Habits

Hello All,

I would like to share “the winning habits” aka **WH **in greater detail as talked about in one of the QS sessions.

The **WH **ensures flow with minimum effort to have a great day. I heard from the book “The four agreements” everyday is a war and you are a warrior. This translated into getting yourself to defeat the tasks you find yourself faced with. By having a solid battle plan you find yourself going through the small battles like a breeze before facing the biggest battle (your work). You don’t waste too much time on decision and problems that are not high value. It actually follows some of the principles of BJ where you try to break down tasks in a sense that they require less effort so you don’t need a lot of motivation.

Let me start with some very small frustrations:
1- The shirt I wanted to wear is dirty. I spend 10 minutes mindlessly with my morning brain searching for a replacement that still needs to be ironed.
2- I don’t know what to wear in the morning and don’t feel like thinking too much. At night takes me less then 1 minute (with ironing 5 tops).
3- No more yogurth at home, what am I going to have for breakfast? You find yourself buying breakfast outside for three times the price and you are still hungry!
4- I don’t have time to go to the bathroom because I need to catch the bus? Can’t have a peaceful busride where I can read or listen to audiobook since I am distracted :wink:
5- Why am I always cooking the same things? I find myself making the recipes I have done a hundred times.
6- I really want to read that book, but I am spending too much time on facebook on the evening.

The solution
The solution is a set of “winning habits”. A list of easy habits you can check off at the end of your day. These habits are based on lots of books/ blogs on self-discipline, psychology of getting things done, getting into a good state and my experience as a student and expert procrastinator. My main motivation for using them is having a good day and this because I am working towards my goal.

Why would you want to do the winning habits?

The pain
Realizing you have not made a lot of progress makes me less inclined to relax once I get home. I feel a bit guilty for wasting time and for some reason I don’t enjoy dinner as much, feel slow and tired, and part of my mind is still at work deciding what I am going to do to get back on track and questions why I spend so much time doing nothing. It is not a very pleasant feeling.

The Pleasure
When you have a good day, everything around seems to be better. Food tastes better, you call your friends to meetup, you read the book you have been wanting to read for so long. Morning you feel energized looking forward to a tasty breakfast and going to work afterwards.

It is crucial to keep in my mind and in heart the feeling of a good day. It is almost like “Eating Freshly made Hummus” and canned Hummus. Once you have fresh hummus you can’t go back, you can but it will leave a bad taste in your mouth.

The method

The WB is a simple excel sheet with 30 action items / habits that will make your life easier. Note that it is important that you customize it to fit your lifestyle and desires.

I will explain the WB needed for my lifestyle:
My important priorities:
1- Good Food (as you might have guessed)
2- Productive day at work
3- Good Rest

These three empower each other, creating a strong positive cycle.

Morning Part

The morning starts already in the evening:

-Selecting and ironing your clothes + running clothes if you plan on running. Netherlands weather is pretty predictable either it is really cold or really cold and rainy.
-Making sure you have breakfast

Will ensure that the moment you wake up, you don’t need to make silly decisions.

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