Building a Daily Practice · Lesson 1 of 4

Small enough to keep

The correct size of a new practice is embarrassingly small.

6 minute read

People design practices for their best week and then abandon them in their worst. The right test is the opposite: what could you still do on the worst realistic day — ill, late, and out of patience? That version is the practice. Everything above it is a bonus.

In concrete terms this usually means under ten minutes and one anchor: one card drawn, three breaths counted, one sentence written. Anchoring it to something that already happens daily — the kettle, the commute, brushing your teeth — does more for adherence than motivation ever will.

Consistency compounds in a way intensity does not. Sixty days of a two-minute practice teaches you more about your own patterns than six days of an hour.

Key points

  • · Design for the worst realistic day
  • · Anchor to an existing daily habit
  • · Under ten minutes, one action

Exercise · Write the minimum

Write your practice in one sentence beginning 'Even on a bad day, I will…'. If it takes more than three minutes, halve it.

Daily practice

Check yourself

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