Anyone who has ever worked with me knows that I am a huge believer in the power of building habits in service of your goals.

Here are the top 3 habits that have added the most value to my life.

1. Self-study.

Every morning before my work day begins, I do 2 hours of self-study on a topic of interest. Usually this is around strength and conditioning, health, or nutrition, but I leave it open to follow whatever I feel inspired to learn about at that time. Usually this starts at 6am, but sometimes it starts earlier if I have a big day ahead.

No other activity has added so much value to my life as this self-directed learning time. In the first few years it was mostly about getting the best possible certifications to coach people. But as I kept at the habit it has allowed me to explore and develop what I believe is a very valuable skillset. This allows me to better serve my clients, which has helped me create an in-demand strength practice, which allows me to re-invest in further education and personal development.

I purposely put my office right across from my bedroom to make sure this was the first thing that happened every morning. I’m going on almost 8 years of building and refining this habit. I have this self-study organized into volumes by category and alphabetical order which has done wonders to my retention.

2. Exercise.

The second most valuable habit I have developed, and coincidentally the one that happens right after my study time is my own exercise and physical training.

After retiring as a full-time athlete, I found myself a little bit lost in terms of the purpose of my training. I was no longer trying to go to the Olympics, but I had an itch to have difficult and challenging physical goals. Today my goals are mostly around the longevity of my joints and occasionally being able to hike a big mountain in the middle of nowhere, but that is enough to keep me inspired to keep going.

I have not missed a single workout in 4 years. My entire week is built around my own exercise. Even through incorporating a business, getting engaged, the covid pandemic, and everything else life throws at you I do not miss this time. I’ve even worked 12 hour days and done it at midnight before bed.

The key habit for me is having plan A, B, and C. I always have a general workout program that I am following. I find having something that I have to write down and track each week absolutely critical for me to see progress and invest in the process. I usually get this from a combination of someone that I have hired (yes coaches should learn from other coaches!) combined with some things that I know are just good for me and I need to do regular to feel good. But I’m flexible enough that if I am traveling, if I need to work from home, or if I have 20 minutes I give myself permission to modify. The point is it gets done no matter what and the work always serve the bigger vision that I have for myself.

3. Mindful Meditation.

I have been exploring meditation for a long time, but I’d be honest in saying that it has been infrequent, irregular, and frankly of questionable value.

It wasn’t until I started a business that I realized I this was a necessity for me as a habit. Managing the complexity of serving clients, serving the CRA, serving all of the rules and regulations of busines ownership, working on big growth projects, and hitting deadlines day in day out, has been borderline impossible to deal with and the mind has gone wild at times.

I hired a mental performance coach this summer. I was advised to put meditation in my day 2x per day. Not just when I need it but no matter what. I have found by dedicating this time has helped me build the skill of awareness. It has given me space between my thoughts and allowed me to cope with the hard times, while bringing freshness to the good times.

The thing I have learned about it is that the mindfulness part is the key for me. I don’t need some crazy sound vibrations or mantra vexing me into another world. I literally just need to sit still for a period and be mindful of my senses. The other thing I have learned is I don’t think you need a week-long retreat to get this type of benefit. I try to do 2x 5mins per day and will go for 10 if I have time. It seems to be the right formula for me, and although it is new habit, I intend to keep it up!

Final Point: The Building of Habits

I want to finish this post by saying none of these habits have been easy to develop. They have all taken months or years to work on. There have been failures and mistakes, and I always refine the process to make them easier and more accessible.

But what I do want to say is that people need to think less about the outcomes they want and more about the habits that they need.

For me it looks like this:

Self-Study
Outcome->to be the best strength coach I can possibly be  
Skill->Know as much as possible about the science of physical development and health
Habit->Study 2hrs per day on a high value topic

Exercise
Outcome->Live a long time and do stuff I want to do
Skill-> Do high quality physical work in service of my joints
Habit-> Always have a program and plan in place so I just have to show up and do it

Mindful Meditation
Outcome->Mental space and clarity of mind
Skill->Be present and manage the chaos of life
Habit->Meditate 2x 5-10 mins per day

I hope this post helps just one person re-frame how they think about habits and gives you the motivation to find high value habits that work for you!

Leave a comment if you have a good one.