Last Updated on November 10, 2023

Many people want to get “in shape.”

To achieve this sustainably takes doing multiple things at once, consistently.

It takes working out consistently, eating according to your plan consistently, getting sufficient good quality sleep consistently, and so on.

It can be easy to get into an all-or-nothing mindset about this.

I’ve often caught myself saying things like,

“Well there’s no sense in working out hard right now because my diet isn’t where it needs to be.”

But that’s silly.

Because if you can make one thing a habit now, you can easily add more habits later!

Limit Work In Progress

Similarly, to succeed at business requires doing a bunch of things simultaneously and consistently.

I’ve sometimes heard clients say things to me like,

“There’s no reason to send emails to my list right now because my list is too small.”

“Plus I’m not making social media posts.”

“And I really need to be working on my business processes.”

“But I don’t have time to do all of this.”

So instead they did nothing!

But here’s the thing.

If you get one of these things going, and do it for a while, it starts to become just what you do.

It becomes an automatic habit.

You don’t even have to think about it.

And then it’s easy to take on a second thing.

Start with Breakfast

Years ago I was working on changing my diet to deal with some health problems.

I was very overwhelmed with the idea of completely changing everything I ate.

I was working with an herbalist and he suggested just focusing on breakfast.

That felt easy!

So I decided on oatmeal for breakfast.

I did that for a week or two until it felt easy.

Then I started figuring out lunch.

That was the easy way to change my eating habits.

Most people try to do it all at once, me included.

As the saying goes, “By the yard it’s hard, but inch by inch it’s a cinch.”

In other words, do a smaller chunk first.

Make it a habit.

Then add the next bit, and so on.

Before you know it, you’ll have all the pieces in place, all working for you automatically.

In my Joy of Doing system, this is Principle 6: Limit Work in Progress.

Everyone has too much on their plate these days.

A wise person once said, “You can do it all, just not all at once.”

That’s good advice I’m trying to live by too.

What’s your highest priority project to work on now?

And what can wait until that is up and running?

Until next time,
~Duff