As a personal trainer with over 20 years of experience coaching everyone from elite athletes to everyday fitness enthusiasts, Brad Kahn, WRKOUT Senior Trainer shares daily habits that he attributes to his success and helps him push through slumps and tough times.
I can tell you that when little things are repeated daily they stack together, forming habits when then get built into our lifestyle. It is no small feat to remove an old habit from your routine and reprogram the brain with a new habit that you do day after day. There are two strategies you can follow depending on your past track record, goals and determination:
- Pick one or two low-hanging fruits and incorporate them into your daily routine until they become a habit and then lifestyle. Then, move onto the more challenging ones knowing you have the mental muscle built up to layer these more challenging changes onto a strong foundation.
- Pick out the hardest first, knowing that this might take a little longer, a little more patience and perseverance but once it is established the easier habits to adopt will be a breeze.
Here is the to-do list that is a non-negotiable part of my daily routine. If you are not currently doing these, then this is a great place to start a new habit.
- Drink enough water (I aim for 1 oz/lb of body weight daily.)
- Drink my greens every morning. It’s the first thing I consume.
- Don’t skimp out on mobility work—yes the warm-up matters!
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
- Eat whole foods.
When you are truly ready to separate yourself from the pack in addition to these basic non-negotiable things I make sure are part of my routine, here are the top five things I do every day!
1. GET UNCOMFORTABLE AT LEAST ONCE
For me, this means a cold plunge in the shower or a contrasting hot/cold shower and engaging in breath-work or meditation.
None of these come easy to me. Taking a cold shower or purposefully breathing or sitting in silence with your thoughts are challenging. There is nothing comfortable about it but by getting uncomfortable I am able to build mental fortitude and resilience to push forward.
2. Write
Before getting consumed by social media, client sessions and my inbox I take 10 minutes and put pen to paper. Writing in my gratitude journal daily helps put me in the right frame of mind to be of service to others. Some days it is only a few lines, and other days I write for a full 10 minutes non-stop.
Try these prompts to get started:
- Today I am grateful for…
- Today I am going to do a random act of kindness…
- A small personal win...
Not a morning person? That is fine you can give gratitude at the end of the day for everything that happened that day. Don’t ignore the little things in the day that made you smile and brought joy and happiness to those around you.
3. MOVE WITH PURPOSE EVERYDAY and STRENGTH TRAIN
There is no point having a strong physique with a lemon for an engine and there is no point having a powerful engine but a body that can’t sustain it.
The best decision I made was to hire a coach. I follow a program designed to my needs built for me by someone else!
No plan to follow or feel stuck with your progress? Not sure what to lift, how heavy to lift or how to load and unload your program so you make gains? Hire a coach.
Anyone can make you sore but a great coach will help make you better.
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4. TRACK YOUR RECOVERY
It’s pretty easy to remember to track your workout, but tracking your recovery doesn’t always come as naturally.
Being able to monitor my sleep quantity and quality, my body temperature, heart rate and heart rate variability helps inform my training decisions when to push and when to recover. I have been wearing an Oura ring for over two years to track my daily metrics.
If I am going to put in the training load, tracking my recovery is key so that I can live life outside of training.
5. CONSUME CONTENT DAILY
Until this last year, I have been commuting to work daily. Some days I had a 20 minute drive and others were 90 minutes. Consuming content daily helps bring calmness, clarity and increased confidence in my decision making. Instead of listening to the same loop of songs or news I fell into the world of podcasts and audio books.
Some of my favorite podcasts are:
- The Rich Roll Podcast
- The Tim Ferriss Show
- The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes
- Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris
- Ben Greenfield Fitness
Whatever genre speaks to you I urge you to consume content that is meaningful to you and it will help you become a better creator, writer and leader.
