And how they can work
Michael Landau
December 30th, 2022
This is how I mean Persistent Growth to work.
Every day. Each day of the year. Is this realistic?
I’ll tell you why it is.
Even if we don’t mean to do it, even if we think it’s nonsense, even if we hate New Year’s resolutions and know they don’t work, we do it anyway: we look back, and we look forward.
It’s inevitable. The end of December is an ending, and it’s almost impossible to ignore. A new period is about to begin, and we want it to be better than the previous one. We want ourselves to be better this time.
We need those mental tags that differentiate one day from another, one month from another, one year from another. It’s part of how we make sense of the world, how we create reality. Is December 31st any different from any other day? Or January 1st? No they aren’t. But we make them different in our collective minds.
And even without wanting, we take inner notes, we regret some things when we look back, and we wish for some things when we look forward. That’s what celebrations are for: they are mental notes.
OK, so this year I want to have some regular wellness practice. I want to take better care of myself. Exercise? Meditation? Read a little every day? Go to bed earlier? You name it. I need them all.
I’ve created Persistent Growth for me. Here’s how it works: have a daily self-care practice. Daily, I mean every day. Weekends too. Holidays too. Also when I’m too busy. Also when I don’t feel like it. OK, if I’m sick I can skip a day or two. I don’t mean to be fanatical about it, but I do want it to be daily.
What does it take?
The most important characteristic I gave it is this: it is so short that I’d feel ridiculous making excuses. I can always find three minutes for it, and I’d be lying if I say I didn’t have the time.
And then, it must be fun enough that I won’t get bored and choose to forget it on most days just because it’s a drag.
Three minutes, really? Why bother, you might say. It’s useless.
No it isn’t. There’s a science to it. Of course, I must apply some wisdom to what I’m doing in those three minutes. But I’ve tried it, and I’ve had people who've been doing it with me for a full year now. This is what we’ve discovered:
Three minutes is just enough for something small to shift.
Something changes. By the end of the three minutes you feel a difference. On most days, at least. And that’s the magic: get a tiny improvement and make it happen every day, forever. The exponential growth is spectacular. Yes, it takes a while. But pretty soon you notice the improvement. It grows with you, it grows on you, and it is noticeably larger each day.
And the wisdom I apply to it, you might ask? Mindful Movement.
You stop. You slow down. A lot. You look closely at yourself in motion. You make it small and slow. You do a different thing each day, so it’s not repetitive or boring. You focus (and get better at it each day); you notice small details (and you get more perceptive each day); you can make small changes (and you get cleverer about it each day).
So the improvement you sense is, literally, palpable. You move better, you feel better in your skin, you are more flexible, more effective in your actions, you have less pain and stiffness. You are, quite clearly, improving.
How does that sound for a New Year’s resolution? Would you dedicate three minutes a day to your well-being?
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Does a daily practice that is so short you won’t skip it, and so effective you won’t want to stop, sound interesting to you?
Take a look at Persistent Growth.
that is valid only during the first week of January
This post is from last year. This year's offer is even more spectacular. December 2023 is your moment for a New Year's resolution that can change your life. Don't let it pass!