A small yet powerful reminder

Hello friend,

3 hours ago, after I wrapped up my work, I crashed on the bed with my phone. I did not have the energy to go for a walk.

I have been trying to incorporate physical movement over the past few days.

But, the initial excitement of starting a new ritual is now diminishing.

I was feeling exasperated with myself. The situation is all too familiar. You start a new habit. The first few days are exciting. Then, the motivation dips. Sometimes you carry the momentum with willpower. Sometimes you give up.

That’s when I remembered another reminder tucked somewhere in my notes.

TRUST YOURSELF.

I consciously reminded myself, “I can trust myself to do the right thing. If I feel like lying down, I will continue doing so. I don’t have to rush anything. I don’t have to beat myself up. I trust myself.”

20 minutes later, I was tying my shoelaces.

Now, I am writing this in a sweaty t-shirt after returning from a 50-minute walk.

The traditional advice around new habit building, aka James Clear from Atomic Habits, says that the new habit needs to take only 2 minutes. I do not need to think of 7000 steps but just the act of tying my shoelaces. That is how you build new, atomic habits.

But, there is an often overlooked insight that James Clear had also mentioned as a consequence of atomic habit.

“Each habit not only gets results but also teaches you something far more important: to trust yourself. “

James Clear

Of course, taking action and performing the actual habit builds the evidence to trust yourself.

What I have realized is somewhere the trust needs to come first from within. You do not always need evidence to trust yourself. It is okay to start by reminding yourself that you trust yourself, no matter what happens.

Far too often, we fall into the guilt trap of beating ourselves up for not meeting our standards or not living up to our potential. Clearly, it takes us nowhere.

If you struggle with the same, maybe remind yourself in the moment, “I trust myself. I trust myself fully to do the right thing even if it is not what I might have planned. I trust myself fully, wholeheartedly.”

Just stay with the feeling. And then do whatever arises in the moment.

The same principle goes with the business or any endeavor too. The first time I read about trust in this way was in this piece on non-coercive marketing by Rob Hardy where he writes,

“Trust yourself fully. Trust that you are enough, and that you will always be enough, no matter what happens with your business. Trust that the truths you tell about yourself, your products, and your business will reach into the world, and resonate with the right people enough that they want to become customers.”

So, my friend, it is okay if today you could not meet the ridiculously high standards you have set for yourself.

Trust yourself fully. Trust that you are enough and that you will always be enough, no matter what happens. 🙂

That’s all from me this week,

Until next time,
Love,
Vishal