This is a follow-up on my last article on ‘How to make new habits stick’. You can find it here.

If you followed along my Instagram story last week you know that I completed the 30day #letsgoalchallenge successfully and took a cold shower for 30 consecutive days. As a reminder, my habit pledge was: 

I, Ellen Million, commit to taking a cold shower every morning for the next 30 days. 

If I miss one day, I will take a plunge in cold Lake Zurich.

Having successfully executed my new daily habit, I now don’t have to take a plunge in cold Lake Zurich – what a relief! I got so hooked on the benefits of cold showers that they are now a non-negotiable part of my morning routine. 

Along the way of forming this new healthy habit I noticed the importance of MINDSET, so here are a few things I learned during the past 30 days: 

 

✔️Your mind wants to keep you comfortable, and often stagnant.

If I would have listened to my mind/ my ego/ my inner critic, I would have never started taking cold showers because well, it’s freakin cold. I would have stayed stagnant and missed out on the immunity benefits and the mental strength I now get through my cold showers every morning.

 

✔️Stack your habits.

Bypass the spiel of your mind trying to stop you from growing by habit stacking. In my case, I stacked my new habit, cold showers, onto my existing habit, my morning yoga & fitness routine. This made it easy for me to repeat the action consistently.

 

✔️Add perspective.

Part of the #letsgoalchallenge habit pledge was to identify a sacrifice or punishment in case you don’t stick with the new habit. For me, I knew I will have to take a plunge in cold lake Zurich if I skip 1 day of cold showers. Suddenly taking a cold shower sounded GREAT! Perspective guys.

 

✔️You get hooked quicker than you think.

Surprise, but your mind actually loves to be stretched. After every single shower, my body AND my mind felt vibrant and energetic. This is behavioural conditioning in action – the more you repeat your good habit, the more your body & mind gets hooked and wants MORE OF IT! 

 

The beauty is, we can adapt our mindset to have it work for us, for our growth, for our happiness, instead of against us. 

xE