3111: The Power of Ridiculously Small Steps by Kendra Adachi with Becoming Minimalist on Developing Habits

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 31-11, the power of ridiculously small steps by

[00:01:07] Kendra Adachi with becoming minimalist.com and I'm Justin Malik.

[00:01:11] We're going to jump right into today's post as we optimize your life.

[00:01:20] The power of ridiculously small steps by Kendra Adachi with becoming minimalist.com

[00:01:27] I'm high strong and inflexible, both mentally and physically.

[00:01:33] So yoga is no brainer for my aching back and caffeinated squirrel brain.

[00:01:38] For most of my thirties, I worked hard to make yoga a regular habit in my life.

[00:01:43] So often we build habits to support things we think should matter and actually don't.

[00:01:49] But in this case, my reasons for the habit were rooted in what mattered.

[00:01:53] mindfulness and a body that doesn't hurt all the time.

[00:01:57] All I had to do was make it happen.

[00:02:00] I attempted the whole, I'm going to do yoga for 30 minutes four times a week thing

[00:02:05] and build a big system to support it.

[00:02:08] I downloaded apps, I bought the best mat, the best blocks, man the best workout top.

[00:02:15] I had checklists and phone alarms, I even bought a pass for 10 hot yoga classes for accountability.

[00:02:22] As I note, if you want to feel like you have no control over your life, start your yoga

[00:02:27] habit journey at hot yoga class where you sweat like a linebacker for 90 minutes and

[00:02:32] then can't drive home because your legs feel like they might be broken.

[00:02:36] It's super fun.

[00:02:38] Despite the system, I never once made it all four days.

[00:02:44] Nothing was working and it was beyond frustrating.

[00:02:48] I wanted to learn yoga.

[00:02:49] My reason really mattered.

[00:02:52] No one was forcing me.

[00:02:54] Why was this so hard?

[00:02:56] Because it was too big.

[00:02:59] Even if you're trying to develop habits that support a life you deeply authentically want,

[00:03:05] small steps are still your best bet because then you'll actually move.

[00:03:10] If instead you put too much pressure on yourself with a big system, you'll spend more time

[00:03:15] attending to its maintenance than developing the habit itself.

[00:03:19] My ridiculously small step.

[00:03:22] On January 1st last year, I did what many folks do at the start of a year and thought about

[00:03:27] my goals.

[00:03:28] I still wanted to build a yoga habit but knew my approach had to be different this time.

[00:03:34] If I wanted to practice yoga on a regular basis, I had to start so small it was embarrassing.

[00:03:41] My commitment?

[00:03:42] One down dog pose a day.

[00:03:45] Just one.

[00:03:46] And if you're unfamiliar with yoga, a down dog is a pose where your hands and feet are

[00:03:51] both ideally placed flat on the ground and your butt is in the air.

[00:03:56] That's how you'd make the letter A with your body in a game of charades.

[00:04:00] And with the exception of corpse pose where you literally lie on the ground like a dead

[00:04:05] person, it's about the easiest yoga pose there is.

[00:04:09] Every day I did one down dog.

[00:04:12] I bent over, put my hands on the ground and my butt in the air held a pose for a couple

[00:04:17] of deep breaths and then stood up again, done for the day.

[00:04:22] Obviously, I felt like a moron going on this laughably low stakes exercise adventure but

[00:04:28] I was determined to stick it out to see if this approach might actually do something.

[00:04:33] Going big hadn't worked to develop the habit so maybe going small would.

[00:04:39] For a while, the answer at least from a results perspective was a resounding no.

[00:04:44] I didn't automatically become more flexible and I was not at all what you'd call Zen.

[00:04:49] Still, my habit was too small to quit so I didn't.

[00:04:54] I kept it up for weeks.

[00:04:56] Huge win on its own.

[00:04:58] I did my pose in the morning or before bed if I'd forgotten to do it earlier and sometimes

[00:05:03] I'd do both.

[00:05:05] Occasionally I do an entire Sun salutation, a connection of a dozen poses that includes

[00:05:10] a down dog which still took no more than 15 seconds.

[00:05:14] After about four months I gradually built upon that first small step.

[00:05:19] It was now doing yoga maybe 30 seconds a day.

[00:05:22] I repeat 30 seconds a day.

[00:05:26] Sure on paper the whole thing felt foolish.

[00:05:29] What a joke to think 30 seconds of yoga meant anything but the joke was on me because

[00:05:34] I had developed a daily habit of yoga and even though it lasted only as long as a beer

[00:05:40] commercial, I was really proud of moving in the direction of something I had always wanted

[00:05:47] and ridiculously small steps had been my road to get there.

[00:05:51] Almost two years later I still practice yoga every single day even if it's just the

[00:05:57] one pose.

[00:05:58] Here's the thing about habits.

[00:06:00] You might think that if you don't build a big system to support them it won't work but

[00:06:05] I believe the opposite is true.

[00:06:07] When you start big you give up before you even begin but the smaller the step the more

[00:06:13] likely you'll do it, the more you do it the more you'll keep doing it making it a meaningful

[00:06:19] part of your daily rhythm which is the entire point.

[00:06:23] Embrace the power of small steps.

[00:06:26] They matter, they count and they're the best way to create habits around what actually

[00:06:31] matters to you.

[00:06:37] You just listen to the post titled The Power of Ridiculously Small Steps by Kendra Adachi

[00:06:42] with BecomingMinimalist.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:18] Take it to Kendra, guest writer on Joshua Becker's site.

[00:08:22] Kendra is the author of the book The Lazy Genius Way Embrace What Matters, Ditch What

[00:08:27] Doesn't and Get Stuff Done, which has around 4,000 reviews on Amazon with a 4.7 rating

[00:08:34] so very well reviewed.

[00:08:35] And you can find her online at TheLazyGeniusCollective.com.

[00:08:41] Her method is super similar to what I went through even though I didn't really plan it

[00:08:46] that way.

[00:08:47] I started Tai Chi classes pretty slowly.

[00:08:50] One on one week, then two classes on another week.

[00:08:54] Man, I stayed like that for probably about two months and only then I started going sometimes

[00:09:02] three times a week and or walking there, which is about two miles.

[00:09:08] If on day one I decided I was going to go five times a week, even three and walk there,

[00:09:14] I'm sure I would have quit.

[00:09:16] I started small, committed to one class, then committed to ten.

[00:09:21] And now I'm committed to going for six months, paid up front which motivates me even more

[00:09:27] to go so the money isn't wasted.

[00:09:29] Man, I'm still going.

[00:09:31] It really does work.

[00:09:32] Now my first step was a bit bigger than hers but go with what works for you.

[00:09:38] Just make sure it's not a leap instead of a step.

[00:09:42] So take those small steps today.

[00:09:44] Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow as usual where your optimal life

[00:09:49] awaits.