The sheets were warm and the pillow was cool. Pip the dog gently snored as she pressed up against me. I opened my left eye and saw that my alarm clock was one minute from blaring. I was so tired I turned it off and prepared to sleep one more precious hour.
And then my secret weapon began to speak.
Do you want to weigh 248 lbs. again? Did you enjoy having a 41-inch waist? Did you like being tired all the time? Do you want to lose your fitness?
In response, my sheets tightened their grip and I drifted back to sleep. Vivid dreams began to play in my mind’s theater.
Then I heard the voice again, “You have about 50 minutes. You can do this. You can fit in a four-mile run.”
My left eye looked at the clock again. My right eye joined it.
I swung my feet around and touched the floor. Pip adjusted and took over my spot. I laced up my shoes and ran 4.3 miles.
Victory begins by beginning.
And I began all because my secret weapon — that voice that helped me get moving when I just wanted to sleep. That voice was a habit. One that I have formed over many weeks of exercising before six a.m. It helped make a tough but good choice easier.
Good habits are my secret weapon. And they are changing my life one choice at a time.
To find out more about habits, their power and how to develop them, read The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and business by Charles Duhigg.