The lessons learned from taking on a good habit

Over the course of the years, I have learnt to value jogging because this is the time of the day where I can reflect best and come up with ideas. In fact, the idea for this blog post stemmed from this morning’s run. As I jogged and gazed at my childhood’s surroundings, I came to the realization of how this habit has taught me 2 important life-long lessons.  

It’s easier to give up, when you’ve convinced yourself that you’ve tried. 

Jogging has taught me persistence; when I’m jogging, there are moments where I feel doubtful about achieving the goal that I had set initially. I usually get these doubts in the early stages of my run. I start to get discouraged by the amount of work that still lies ahead and my brain starts to mess with me:  “You’ve already had to put forth so much energy in this first stretch, are you sure you’ll be able to make it?” My body parts start to ache and breath slowly starts to run out. 

These are the moments where my body is inclined to give up and stop. After all, I would still feel ok with myself because I would have at least tried. The fact is that neither I am tired, nor does my body ache. This internal battle is a result of the fear of underachievement mixed with an inclination to look for an easy way out because if your brain tells you that you’ve at least tried, you are more likely to give up. 

It is not the first time that I’ve capitulated to such thoughts, but most of the time I don’t. If anything, these doubts have taught me an essential lesson: If I do persevere, I will get a second wind. And this is the part of the run, which is the most fun and rewarding. 

Growth happens in small steps

When I started going jogging, I would often set unrealistic goals and get discouraged straight away when I failed to meet them. Time has taught me to be more patient and aim for the small accomplishments more consistently. In the last weeks, I’ve pushed myself to complete a 4-lap jog along my village’s perimeter. Today, I was tempted to go for 5 because that seems like the logical next step; however, knowing myself, it isn’t. Considering that each lap is a 2km stretch, I’ve decided to go for a more realistic challenge, complete only an extra half a lap today and keep this up next week.  In this way, I will be able to reach my 5 laps benchmark by the following week. Big goals don’t have to be achieved all at once; they’re more likely to happen if broken down into smaller stages.

Jogging has become a positive habit. During the scholastic year, I wake up at least 3 times a week at 4:30 am to go for my jog. However, I’ve always struggled to maintain this habit in summer because I end up sleeping in every day. This year, however, I’ve decided to make a conscientious effort to keep this up.  In my last post, I described jogging as a keystone habit, because it is the foundation block for me to have a healthy routine. In fact, when I jog consistently, I notice that I procrastinate less and I’m more productive. The process of adopting and maintaining positive habits can be long and strenuous; however, there is something to be said about the lessons learned. The iterations, the mind hacks, and the challenges all play an important role in one’s growth.