The amount of new habits I've followed through with over the long run are less than a handful. On a day to day basis, the longest thing I've followed through with is physical training of some sort. Mostly because I used be a swimmer and trained for years since the age of seven or eight. Even though right now, I'm not in the best shape of my life (injuries and life happened), I still don't find it hard to train. The type of training differs based on what I'm into right now (currently it is to the heaviest ATG squat I can), but there is always something. The other two things, I've managed to pick up in the last two months. One of them is to write everyday and the other is write code everyday. To my surprise, all I did was remove one major friction. With code and writing, the friction was sharing what I had done. This would lead me to over think things and come up with something others would appreciate. Which is near impossible to do, without hours under your belt. It's only after creating a lot of crappy things that you can realize what makes something crappy. To my surprise, as soon as I decided not to share anything. It's helped me learn Zig, although I'm still only two weeks in. I'm writing crappy code, but some iterations are better than the last. As for writing I'm not really sure if it's getting better, as when I occasionally do share something I get little to no responses. But I write none the less, as I like it. The volume of work has gone up significantly. I had less than twenty posts two months ago on this blog, but as of today it's at sixty six. In just under two months.
It's not really rocket science, and it's something I had read about years before in the Atomic habits book, which I've read twice. What changed was the realization that, I was avoiding doing things, because my ego could not stand creating crappy things. It's unrealistic to have everything you create to be good. Even the best have a few great things they do. Outside of getting stupidly lucky, the best of the best do a volume of work that is far beyond the average. Plus, every time I do something sub-par, I notice possibilities where it could be better. Okay, maybe not every time but after a few attempts.
Since, the last couple of months, I've realized there is not a lot of things I'd like to do but become very good at a small subset of things. I want to know what it feels like to be a master of your craft. By removing any friction, I'm able to enjoy the process, the day to day is no longer a grind. Which I like. I'm excited to see, how good I'll be by next September, as it'll be a year by then. Then move forward from there. I wish this for more people, if you happen to be reading this, try it. Let me know how it goes, and if it works for you too.
The process of eliminating friction
Step 1: Pick something you like to do
This is quite important, but if you don't have an answer for this don't fret. Just pick anything you find interesting or you think could be interesting. Think of it like an experiment. Although, most of us have something we've always wanted to do.
Step 2: Do the simplest version of it
Example, for me it was programming and writing everyday. The simplest thing I could do for both was write one line of code or article a day. If it's training, the simplest thing to do would be to put your workout clothes. It might sound silly but it really works, over time you'll find yourself doing way more. Try it. But focus on doing the simplest version of it. Till you naturally feel like you could and want to do more. On the days you don't default back to the simplest thing.
Step 3: Do it everyday
Especially, if you are just starting out. Do it everyday, even the weekends. It might sound like a lot, but remember you are doing the simplest version of it. It shouldn't take you more than five minutes to do. So there is really no excuse.
Bonus step: Iterate
Early on, don't worry about the quality of work, focus on showing up everyday. After a while you'll notice things you can improve. Only then iterate. Don't force an iteration too early. After the first hump, you'll be able to spot iterations quite often. If they don't appear, don't worry about it too much. The important thing is to do it often. Your time line is years not days, weeks or months.
On failure re-visit step 2 and then step 1
If you find yourself not able to do the simplest version of the task you wish to do. Re-check if what you are trying to do is really the simplest thing that you can do. If it is then you have learned if the thing that you were doing was really for you. Try something else.