Establish the Habit First, Then Refine It

"For something to change in your life, obviously you have to DO something
different.

You have to take action.

And then you have to take that action DAILY.

You need that consistency.

And once that's established, you refine that action. You refine it until
you do it well.

You do it well daily - and the sky's the limit. "

- Brian Kim MIT of the 4/25/13

briankim.net

Today's MIT speaks to the core of my thoughts right now. It is Day 6 of my 30 day marathon to become a habitual early-riser. I was tired when I got up, which was only a few minutes ago, but I've noticed that my process has been working to get me out of the drowsy state of mind that we experience when the alarm clock disrupts us out of our  slumber. I set my alarm in the bathroom so I must get up to go turn it off. So I walk in, turn on the light, turn off the alarm, and now I tell myself, "Just sit down and go empty your bladder", and while I void, I tell myself, "Just go wash your face and you'll feel more alert", so I do that, and I remind myself of the fact that I know from my past few days of experience that an hour or two later after I've gotten up, I feel glad that I got up early to work and improve myself. That's my process, and it's worked for the past few days. However, I do need to look at the research again that I did before starting this 30-day habit building challenge and make adjustments.