1. MINIMISE YOUR DAILY DECISIONS
Every day we are faced with a long list of decisions to make. Our decisions should be disciplined decisions that help us to achieve our intended actions such as improving our diet or our yoga practice but the majority of the decisions that we make are small undisciplined decisions that can clutter our brains, for example we may ask ourselves; “What sort of coffee should I order?” or “What clothes should I wear?”. It is our disciplined decisions that allow us to see through our intended actions. One way of de-cluttering our daily decision volume is by giving ourselves less choice and ultimately living a more minimalistic lifestyle: eat the same meal for breakfast five days a week, wear the same outfits to your yoga classes or drink the same coffee daily. Author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss cites studies that have shown diets to gain the most compliance when the person eats the same meals repeatedly - avoiding too much variety and thus avoiding decision fatigue.
2. WAKE UP EARLIER
This will require going to sleep a little earlier but mornings are a great time of the day to practice yoga. Early morning movement practices improves focus during the rest of the day and it also means that you will be less distracted by other issues that can arise later on in the day. In other words practice Yoga before you open your emails!
3. INTRODUCE ONE NEW HABIT AT A TIME
If you're reading this then the chances are good that you value productivity and perhaps you're even a fully-fledged ‘Type A’ personality i.e. competitive, ambitious and impatient. There's nothing wrong with exhibiting these personality traits, but be sure to pay particular attention to creating 'manageable' habits rather than succumbing to the habit of taking too much on. Gary Keller author of 'The one thing', encourages us to take on one new habit and task at a time, perhaps this is just one additional yoga practice per week to begin with.
4. HABITS MUST BE ENJOYABLE
Go to a yoga class that you enjoy and be sure to include poses that you like in your self-practice. This does not mean that you should steer clear of the more difficult postures, in fact it's quite the opposite, a large part of yoga is growing yourself mentally and physically to overcome these challenges, however, this should be done in a gentle, patient and accepting way. This will ensure that you will feel more energized after your practice rather than sore, tired and frustrated.
5. HABITS MUST BE SCHEDULED
Try to see how these new habits fit into the bigger picture and the vision that you hold for your life. With this in mind: write down, set aside time and actually schedule the new habit.
Anthony Robbins — 'If you talk about it, it's a dream, if you envision it, it's possible, but if you schedule it, it's real.'
So decide on your new habit and create your schedule with manageability and enjoyment in mind. Wake up early to practice, do the poses you enjoy and the ones you avoid in a more gentle and mindful way until they start to feel effortless. Make fewer decisions through the day and you'll find yourself making better decisions that support your new habits. Good habits become a disciplined life.
Live with discipline.