Hello! 👋 

Welcome to Issue 20 of the weekly Chronic Evolution newsletter, where I share mindfulness tips, tricks, and anecdotes to help you evolve your mindset in 5 minutes or less.

Let’s get right into it.

Micro-Challenges Are the Key to Making New Habits Stick

Did you hold your toothbrush in the same hand while brushing your teeth this morning?

Drink your tea (or coffee) out of your same favorite mug?

Slip into your coziest chair the same way you’ve done countless times before?

It’s nothing to feel bad about. I did it, too. It’s the unconscious programming that – according to Dr. Joe Dispenza – lets us live 95% of our lives on autopilot by the time we’re about 30.

But this subconscious program isn’t always working in your favor. It can also keep you in an endless negative cycle of not believing in yourself or your ability to change.

Today, we’re going to disrupt the system.

The 30-day challenge shakeup

Popular Medium writer Alex Mathers says 30-day challenges give you an unfair advantage in life. I agree.

Thirty is a magic number. It’s long enough to get a routine in place but short enough to feel doable.

When you want to quit, you can trick yourself into going “just one more day” because you can see the end of the month on your calendar and rationalize that it’s really not far away.

The Holistic Psychologist says picking one small thing and sticking with it for 30 days straight is a way to heal self-betrayal. We’re proving to ourselves that we’ll show up consistently, transforming self-discipline into self-love.

So let’s love on ourselves a little bit more, shall we?

Today, I want you to pick ONE thing you’ve been telling yourself you should do and commit to it for the next 30 days.

Don’t worry about doing it forever. Just focus on this month.

It doesn’t have to be a big thing, either.

For me, it’s going to be drinking a glass of lemon water every morning. I’d like to become more consistent with it again.

For you, maybe it’s fascial stretching.

A morning walk, rain or shine.

A daily gratitude journal.

Telling your partner why you appreciate them.

Try not to overthink it. Just pick the first reasonable idea that comes to mind and give it a go.

You can even go analog and print out a calendar template to stick to your fridge. Mark an X on each day you do the thing you’ve identified for your challenge. Then, make it your mission not to break the chain of Xs.

Jerry Seinfeld used this strategy to write jokes every day and become a super successful comedian. It’s a simple but powerful motivator.

After the 30 days, you can keep going or pick something else.

Whatever you do, be sure to stick to ONE idea for the entire thirty days. Then, if you want to add more, you can habit stack.

On day 31, maybe I’ll drink a morning lemon water AND start a new fascial stretching habit.

As long as you stick to one new thing every thirty days, the stacking possibilities are endless.

Have fun with it.

A message from future you

After you read this section, I invite you to close your eyes for a second and imagine this: It’s 90 days into the future. You’ve consistently been doing the top three things that you would benefit the most from right now.

How do you feel?

What does your life look like – are you in the same place? With the same people?

Do you sleep easier at night?

Only future you will know the answers to these questions. And it’s all put in motion by the choices you make right here, right now.

What does choosing YOU mean to you today?

Make that the theme for your first 30-day challenge.

If you feel like it, hit reply and let me know what habit you’re choosing for the month of September. I’d love to hear about it.

To your chronic evolution,

Carly 

P.S. Know someone who would enjoy this newsletter? Click the button below to share it with them.

If these emails ever become a burden rather than something you look forward to opening each week, I encourage you to unsubscribe. (No hard feelings.)