“Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation… even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.”—Leonardo da Vinci
As one pursues a growth plan, it is important to set goals and form sound habits. We form habits from daily practice. I wrote recently about SIDCHA (self-imposed daily challenging healthy activity)—a practice coined by Josh Spodek (http://joshuaspodek.com). SIDCHA can develop self-disciple and facilitate our well-centeredness. These can help one develop the skills to form life-long habits. According to Josh Spodek, “If you want discipline, do things that need discipline.” It is important, however, to not allow these activities to become merely routine.
Activities like SIDCHA are purposeful. Examples include cold showers, burpees, journaling, meditation, etc. These help shape self-discipline and a goal-oriented mindset. A key to choosing the right SIDCHA is selecting an activity that remains relatively difficult over time. If the selected activity is too easy, or becomes easy, one will begin to do the activity with little thought or effort.
When we form habits for the purpose of growth and well-centered fitness, the principle of progression applies. In other words, the challenge has to remain sufficiently difficult. If not, there is no growth.
It is necessary when writing daily goals (such as, for the dimensions of well-centered fitness), for example, to write aspirations that grow with time. Otherwise, we just “do a growth plan”. We no longer write “goals”. When we write statements that merely acknowledge what we are already in the habit of doing, these are no longer a goals. Once a habit is formed, it is time to move to the next habit.
If, for example, my personal fitness goal for today is to do 30 minutes of cardio exercise when I have been exercising as such 5 days a week for several months, I am not challenging myself. There is no growth. I need to move on to another opportunity for growth. In exercise science, we refer to this as the “overload principle” (in order for a body system to adapt, it must be pushed to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed). I need to move on to the next personal fitness challenge.
The same applies in the Spiritual, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social dimensions. Remember: kaizen. Our goal is continual growth (be your best today; be better tomorrow).
If you are in the habit of daily goal setting, look over your recent timeline. Are your goals the same every day—day after day? If so, and you are no longer in an intentional process of shaping a new habit, it is time to turn it up a notch or two. Be progressive. Practice “baby steps”, but keep stepping forward. Challenge yourself daily. Promote continual personal growth. Personal achievement is a process not a destination, after all.
Carpe momento!