There is no better example of this idea than the last few weeks of threemail. - so sit back and allow me to pick my own mistake apart as an example...
Ever since I read the book Atomic Habits, I've been a firm believer in the idea of never missing twice.
If you have a specific task to perform, maybe a morning routine or a workout plan, that you have committed to follow - there will be times where life gets in the way and you let one slip...
You put the task off, you avoid the morning routine, you skip the workout.
These things happen.
Having said this, if you miss once it's a one-off, if you miss twice in a row... it starts to become a habit.
How does this relate to threemail.?
As part of the slogan, threemail. is sent out every Tuesday. Always has been, and always will be.
A few weeks ago, however, I decided to put threemail. off to Wednesday because I didn't have adequate time to write a good issue, and thought it best to send it a day late than to rush it out.
No problem. Now here's where I went wrong...
The following week I encountered the same problem, I'd left it too late and ran down my time to write the issue, so I put it off to Wednesday again.
Today's issue is now the 4th issue in a row that has gone out late, because I allowed it to become a habit.
This has also happened to me with my exercise routine. For the last few years, I can proudly say that I never compromised exercise, no matter how busy I thought I was.
September 2021, this busyness found a new high - magnitudes higher - with the launch of live., my coaching platform.
I remember the first day that I decided to prioritise work over my workout. Then the next day, I decided to "just let one more slide".
For the following two months, I was extremely sporadic with my exercise routine, because I allowed it to become a habit.
It happens to all of us, and to be honest, there's nothing catastrophic about it!
But it's certainly something to be aware of.
If that task or routine is high enough on your priotity list, enforce the rule to never miss twice.
The moment you let one slide, get straight back on the horse and follow up with a win - because once two slide, you start to gain some momentum.