#1 Start, #1 Stop
Here’s a simple and incredibly effective strategy for improving any aspect of your life.
Just ask yourself: What’s the #1 thing I could start doing that would have the biggest impact on my life (or on a part of my life)?
Example: For my health and fitness, my #1 start is to take a 30 minute walk every morning. Then apply the strategies from our Habits lesson to implement this.
Many times, it is more beneficial to stop something than to start something. If you’re smoking cigarettes, it is more important to stop smoking than it is to start eating more lettuce.
So along with the “#1 Start” question, ask yourself: What’s the #1 thing I could stop doing that would have the biggest impact on X?
Example: For my health and fitness, my #1 stop is to eliminate all added sugars. Again, use the strategies from the Habits lesson to kick the sugar habit.
The #1 Start and #1 Stop program can work for your life in general (What’s the #1 thing I could start doing that would have the greatest impact on my life?), for your health and fitness, for your relationships, for your business or finances, or for any other part of your life.
Depending on your situation, you may only be able to change one new habit at a time, or you may be able to implement both a #1 Start and a #1 Stop simultaneously.
Either way, you want to get on a schedule of asking yourself the #1 Start and #1 Stop question on a regular basis to begin good or end bad habits, and thus steadily improve your life. This is built into the Quarterly Planning, but you should be able to do it on a monthly basis. If you’re up for it, put a recurring event in your calendar for the 1st day of each month to do this #1 Start and #1 Stop exercise.
Regularly asking yourself this simple but profound question, and then starting or ending the habit, one change at a time, you will continually make dramatic improvements in your life.
Action Steps:
Ask yourself the #1 Start question for your life right now. Unless you are the first perfect person in the world, you should have plenty of things to choose from.
Ask yourself the #1 Stop question for your life right now.
Decide which will have the bigger impact on your life.
Use the strategies from the Habits lesson for whichever will have the bigger impact.
Put a recurring event in your calendar for the 1st day of each month to repeat the #1 Start and #1 Stop exercise.