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If you’re struggling to build a routine, these 11 steps are all you need to follow:

1. Start slow 

Our body and mind resists change.
So we have to trick our body and mind, by making the change happen slowly.

For example: You wake up at 8am and want to wake up at 6am instead? 

Set the alarm for 7:50am (10 mins earlier than usual).
Acclimatise your body and mind to this small change for 2-3 weeks.

Post that, another small change.
Repeat. 

Over a period of a few months, you would get to a routine of 6am. 

2. Measure progress 

If you find a way to measure progress along the way, you will enjoy the routine a lot more than reaching the destination.

For example: Reading can be a difficult routine to establish. Because we attach the joy to finishing a book.

Try this instead. 

Read 1 page every day.
And document that progress. 

Put a big calendar on the wall and cross out the day you read a page.

When you see that big calendar with multiple crosses in a streak – THAT will make you feel like a winner! 

3. The 2-min rule 

The hardest thing about a routine is getting started.

The 2-min rule says – whatever it is that you want to set as a routine, do it for just 2 mins.
Slowly, you will get used to it.

4. Temptation bundling 

Bundle what you like to do and what you want to do as part of a routine.

For example: You like watching YouTube, but you want to have a study routine. 

So, you could watch your course content on YouTube — tutorials, discussions, animations, etc.

5. Habit stacking 

Combine what you are already used to with something you want to build a habit for.

For example: Let’s say you want to set a skincare routine.
So you could say, as soon as I have brushed my teeth, I will start my skin routine.

6. Win the week 

We often want to win EVERY day.
Do everything that we want to do, in a single day itself. 

We can’t. 

Instead, plan your week and try to do everything you want to do, within a week. 

7. Reward yourself 

If you do what you want to do, reward yourself with something you would cherish.

For example: I have distraction time scheduled for 3 slots everyday, for 30 mins each. 

This is my reward for doing all the things I have to do in the day.

8) Build in public 

Publicly announce your habit.
Make yourself accountable to someone outside of you.

For example: You tell your friend – I will send you a picture of my watch at the time I get up everyday. Or else, I will pay you XX amount.

9) Pre-commitment 

You are more likely to follow an action, if you already have some form of commitment towards it.

For example: Paying in advance for the gym membership, the book club, the sports coaching, etc.

10) Stay flexible 

A routine is not designed to make you rigid. 

It’s okay if you broke the routine today.
Come back to it tomorrow. 

11) What if? 

Close your eyes and visualise what will happen if you are unable to build this routine.

More importantly, if you do build this routine – how will it change your life?

You DO NOT need to set up your life before you are 30.

Life is not a scripted game.
Things won’t go as you planned and adding a deadline will not necessarily help.

Take your time.
Explore.

You have time.

Your perception of the past will change as you do.

And if you can change your past, through your perception, you can undo all the chains that have tied you down so far.

Happiness is not about experiencing something new or something exciting. 

It is continually experiencing what you already have, in different ways.
And this also means that happiness is rarely about doing more. 

Instead, it is about having the time, space and wisdom to appreciate what you already have.

We often want to make overnight changes.
But that won’t work.
Because our body and mind resists change.
So we have to trick our body and mind.
By making the change happen slowly.

For example:

You wake up at 8am and want to wake up at 6am instead?
Setting the alarm clock for 6am will work for a few days, until it doesn’t.

Instead:

Set the alarm for 7:50am (10 mins earlier than usual).

Acclimatise your body and mind to this small change.
Will take 2-3 weeks.
Post that, another small change.

Alarm for 7:40am
Repeat.

Then 7:30am.
Repeat.

Over a period of a few months, you would get to a routine of 6am!

The famous Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai opened in 1903 at Rs. 6 per room.
Today, that same room costs Rs. 26,000. 

That’s 7.2% annual inflation for 120 years! 

If your money is not growing (post taxes) at atleast this rate, it is LOSING value every year. 

I am against FDs as an investment option because it protects your money.
Does not help it grow.

Banks clickbait you by offering stability and security in the form of FDs.
And then, resell the same money to you at higher rates, through loans. 

What DOES help your money grow is investing it in the stock market.
Is it risky? Yes.

You cannot eliminate the risk. 

You can manage it, though.
Through time. 

Consider this — the probability of gaining more than 8% returns, had you invested for more than 10 years in Nifty50 (India’s top 50 stocks on the National Stock Exchange), has been 100% till date. 

You don’t have to be an expert.
You don’t have to pick stocks.
You don’t have to run numbers. 

Just start investing.
Every month — through an SIP — and stay committed for 10+ years.
The Nifty50 Index Mutual Fund is a great place to start.

This is a story I have always loved to recite, with a brilliant life lesson.

One day, Narad Muni went to Lord Vishnu.
Narad Muni keeps chanting “Narayana Narayana” (which is another name for Lord Vishnu) as he believes that he is Vishnu’s truest follower.

To validate his belief, he asked Lord Vishnu “Who is your truest follower?”
Vishnu pointed below the clouds.
There was a poor farmer over there.

“He is my biggest follower,” Vishnu said.

Narad was shocked!
He used to chant “Narayana” day in and out.
Vishnu was in his thoughts all the time.
He was sure the farmer’s devotion didn’t come close to his.

“How is that possible? What makes this farmer your truest follower?” Narad asked.
“I will answer this question. But before that you will have to do something for me”, replied Lord Vishnu.

“Please tell me. I am really eager to know the answer.”

“You need to take an earthen pot, fill it to the brim, and then take three rounds of the universe. But there is one condition: you can’t spill even a single drop of water.”

And so Narad set out.
With his immense concentration, he did exactly what Vishnu told him.

When he returned, he asked Vishnu, “Now tell me please – how is that farmer your truest devotee?”

Vishnu pointed at the poor farmer and asked Narad to observe him.

Narad saw that even after a taxing day, even in the most difficult circumstances,
That poor farmer used to chant Vishnu’s name every night before sleeping.

Vishnu smiled.
“How many times did you chant my name while doing this task?”

Narad’s face dimmed.
“Not even once.”

He realised it is very easy to do the things we should do when times are good.
But doing what we should do even when times are bad is what defines us as a person.

Do you agree?

We feel lonely without others because we have not built a friendship with our own selves.

Who else can be your best friend, but you?

You know your strengths. You know your weaknesses. You know your secrets. You know your desires. You know your mind.

The truth is – the less we know ourselves, the more we seek to know ourselves through others.

But they do not know us.

They know a small part of us.

But we will form an entire image of ourselves, through the limited view that they have of our life.

Does this mean we do not need friends?

Of course not. We need friends.

If one is friends with their own self, then one will still benefit from friends.

But we seem to need them because we think we are alone and need to share our thoughts, sorrows, and experiences.

That is an excuse to not be able to do so with your own self.

Become your best friend.

Person 1: 

Bought the latest iPhone.

Person 2: 

Bought a second hand Android.

Who is rich?
Person 1, right?

But then you get to know…

Person 1 earns 30% per month of what the iPhone costs.
Took an EMI to pay for it. 

Person 2 earns 200% of what the phone cost her.
Paid for it in full. 

Now who is rich? 

Buying something that erodes in value on debt, does not mean being rich.
It means you borrowed money to show it as yours.

No investment is worth it, if it gives you returns while taking away your sleep.

On the other hand – No investment is worth it, if it just sleeps, while you do.