Don’t miss twice.

At our most recent planning workshop, I updated and presented a section on habits. 

I challenged the attendees to use our quarterly planning process as an opportunity/trigger to implement a new habit.  

I then walked them through creating a habit and some best practices. One of those best practices was don’t miss twice.  

When building a habit, we can do many things to make it obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. However, the key is repetition. We need repetition to build and establish the habit.  

Yet, what is easy to do is also easy not to do, and when building a habit, this is especially true.  

This is why I loved the recommendation not to miss twice. 

I acknowledge that we are human, so perfection is not possible.   Yet, when we build a habit, it is easy to throw it all away when we miss it. Yet, this guideline recognizes that we might miss and that is ok. What is important is that we don’t miss twice, and we pick ourselves back up quickly and try again.  

Depending on the frequency of the habit, even missing once can create a loss of momentum. Twice, yikes.   For example, if you are building a weekly habit, two misses in a row would be half a month.   A big loss. But if you follow the guideline, you will only miss one week and then attempt to get back on track.   Better.  

This guideline of don’t miss twice can be applied to many different areas. For example, if you are avoiding carbs and eat carbs today, follow the guideline and get back on the plan tomorrow. Don’t miss twice.  

My husband and I plan monthly dates for each other, alternating back and forth. There have been times when life has gotten in the way, and one of us has missed. This guideline can be used here as well… don’t miss twice. It allows us to reprioritize ourselves and get back on track. 

Maybe you have been trying to eat out less.   This rule might help put you back into the home cooking mode after a slip-up of take-out.    

Don’t miss twice. 

I feel like it has many applications!  

How will you use this? Will you use it to stay on track with a new habit, or will you use it elsewhere?  

Once is a mistake. Twice is a pattern. Three times is a habit.

Unkown