Habits after Africa.Why successful routines beat self-discipline every time.

Replacing unsuccessful habits with successful ones.

Since I got back from Africa, I’ve been reminded of a lesson I first heard from Strategic Coach in Toronto: there is no such thing as self-discipline. There are only successful habits and unsuccessful habits.

And if I’m being honest, over the last six months I’ve become far too familiar with the unsuccessful ones. Not in an obvious, dramatic way. More in the quiet, incremental way that happens when life is busy, the weeks are full, and you tell yourself you’ll sort it out “next week”. Some of the habits that used to serve me well have slipped, and the habits that don’t have crept in and made themselves comfortable.

The trouble is, the unsuccessful habits often feel like an anaesthetic. They soften the edges at the end of a hard day, week or month. They give you a sense of relief, reward, or simply escape. And they usually arrive with very little effort. A glass poured without thinking. A later night because you “deserve it”. Another snack because you’re tired and it’s there. A morning lie-in because your body is heavy and your mind is full.

Successful habits rarely offer that instant comfort. They ask something of you first. They require effort, determination, and a decision made in advance. And those two attributes can be hard to summon when you’re exhausted, stressed, or carrying the weight of professional and personal responsibilities.

Wouldn’t it be convenient if eating and drinking weren’t fun?

Wouldn’t it be great if getting up early and going out for a run or a ride in cold or wet weather felt effortless and enjoyable?

But that’s the irony, isn’t it. The things that do us the most good often demand the most determination. And the things that do us the most harm are incredibly easy to slide into. It’s almost as if the path of least resistance has been designed to test us.

And this isn’t only true at home. The same principle applies in business. Unsuccessful habits are easy there too: not keeping a close eye on cash flow, not creating time to properly listen to your team, letting marketing drift, tolerating inefficiencies because you’re “too busy” to fix them. It is always easier not to do the thing than it is to do the thing.

The danger is that when you stop doing the right things, you don’t feel the impact immediately. You feel it later, when the small compromises have compounded. You look up and realise a rot has started to set in.

In my case, I’m stubborn enough about business discipline that I’ve stayed pretty dogged in keeping the company efficient and effective. Which means the place the rot has quietly tried to take hold is at home. That’s where I’ve allowed the unsuccessful habits to get a foothold over the last half year. And now that I can see it clearly, I can also see the solution.

It’s time.

Time to take stock of what’s crept in. Time to be honest about what it’s costing me. Time to summon the courage and fortitude to replace the unsuccessful habits with the successful ones I know I need.

It’s time to get the cycling gear and running kit back out. It’s time to return to sobriety on school nights. It’s time to get to bed earlier. It’s time to keep a careful eye on what I eat as well as what I drink.

It’s time to stop waiting for “motivation” and start rebuilding the habits that make everything else work.

It’s time.