Have you ever thought to yourself while you are getting ready for bed and setting your alarm, “I am going to get up at 5 a.m. and get my workout in before anyone wakes up!” But then 5 a.m. comes, the alarm goes off and you hit snooze. Sound familiar? Yep, me too. The problem is until you actually make getting up at 5 a.m. a habit, you are relying on your willpower to get up.
What is the difference between willpower and a habit? Well, willpower is making yourself get up by forcing yourself to, and it isn’t consistent. Whereas, a habit is when you get up over and over for an extended period of time so you are used to it. Willpower can lead to habit for sure, but until you make something a habit, it will be difficult to continue on the hard days.
Do you think moms enjoy working out or cleaning the house every day? Let me let you in on a little secret … we don’t! So why do we do it then? Because we have to for our health or our home. It never fails that something will come up at some point in the week, or the kids will wake up at 2 a.m., but if you are in the habit of doing something you don’t let that deter you. Are moms tired? Yep! We are tired most of the time. But we know it needs to be done, so we do it.
Maybe it’s working out. Maybe it’s doing the dishes every night after dinner. Whatever it is, once you do it over and over again, it eventually becomes a habit, and you don’t go to bed at night without it getting done. If you rely on your willpower to pull you off that couch after you plopped down, there is a high probability you won’t do it. But if you do it right after dinner before you start that new Netflix series, you stand a higher chance of getting it done.
You may not enjoy it, but you know it needs to be done, so make it a habit whatever it is. Those things you need to get done every day, make a schedule, and make it happen. Make time for it, and do it every single day, but especially on days when it is hard. Why? Because you are creating a habit, and once something is a habit you will do it anyway even on those hard days.
