The past 3 weeks have been eye-opening for me.

My habits. Routines. Practices.

They’ve all been put to the test.

With our son born mid April, I’ve had to completely revamp my entire schedule.

It’s been a learning process and one that I'm still going through.

However, I’ve been reminded of one key reminder over the past few weeks:

I take ownership of my health and choices.

Due to the initial stress and trauma from our son’s dramatic arrival to earth, I found myself struggling the first few weeks with my routines.

During the evenings, I would scroll mindlessly on social media.

The mornings I was running on adrenaline and skipped my morning routine.

Giving myself grace for what my family and I had experienced was the first step back.

The second step?

Taking ownership of my behaviors.

It’s interesting that even when we’re stressed or overwhelmed and engage with unproductive habits, we’re still aware of what we’re doing.

I knew I should go to bed earlier.

I knew that meditation would calm and help me return to my center.

I knew that taking naps would help me feel more energized.

Yet, knowing is not enough.

We must apply.

It’s a never-ending process of self actualization and self ownership.

Lesson: Give yourself grace to process your emotions. Notice what’s going on. Then, reclaim your health and choices by taking full ownership.

Here's Your 5 Minute Friday:

#1.) The Art of Habit Stacking

According to James Clear:

“If you do something for 2 or more days, you create a new habit.”

Habit stacking is a way of stacking your new habits onto existing habits to create a stickiness effect for new habits.

For example, if you brush your teeth every morning, stacking a new habit of meditating afterward could be a way of using a habit stack.

Stack 2-3 habits together?

You have the beginning of a new routine.

Morning and evening routines are a powerful way to center yourself going into each day and night.

Using the right habits in the right order can 10x your performance throughout the day while bringing more peace and fulfillment to your life.

So, to build your morning and evening routine - you need to be clear about which habits you’d like to use.

Note: Keep this simple. Ideally, 2-3 habits for a new routine is sufficient. Start with ONE new habit at a time for sustainable results.

Action Steps:

• Choose 1 new habit to stack onto existing habit in the morning or evening
• Stay consistent with the new habit for at least 6 weeks before layering in a new habit
• Repeat until you have 2-3 new habits stacked together for your new morning or evening routine
• Focus on ONE routine at a time (keep it simple and sustainable)

Habit stacking has been one of my secret health tools I’ve used over the past decade.

It’s allowed me to stay on track even during the busiest and most overwhelming seasons of my life.

Expert Tip: If you want to habit stack and are time-restricted (like myself) consider doing micro routines for 1 minute per habit.

It’s a simple way to keep your habits alive while staying consistent. Progress over perfection.

#2.) Build a Sustainable Routine

Again, the name of the game here is simplicity.

The simpler you make this, the easier it can become.

What are a few example routines you could model?

Morning routine examples:

• Meditation
• Visualization
• Affirmations
• Morning walk
• Qi Gong
• Reading

Evening routine examples:

• Review life vision & goals
• Visualization/paraliminals
• Reading
• Meditation
• Evening stretches or mobility work
• Journaling
• Evening walk

Again, these are examples.

You do NOT need to do all of these.

Pick and choose what resonates with you.

Create your ideas.

Absorb what’s useful. Discard what’s not. Add in what’s uniquely your own.

I’d also suggest starting with 1-3 habits in the beginning.

Keep your routine short and sweet.

This will help you create sustainability and ideally a permanent flow.

Patience and grace are requirements for long-term success here.

#3.) Become a Health Scientist

Give yourself at least 60 days to create your routines and habits.

On average, it takes 30-120 days to create a habit.

12-18 months to create a lifestyle.

3+ years to create a new identity.

Patience (again) is an important element of permanent transformation.

Routines are a culmination of small habits stacked together.

They don’t happen overnight.

However, as you continue to win with your daily habits (actions) and stack them together into a series of actions (routines), you can build momentum.

The importance of being your own health scientist is curiosity.

This includes testing and experimentation.

Here’s a few action steps you can take:

• Keep a written log of your health habits and track your consistency (a simple check mark system works well)
• Each day, write down 1-2 reflections on what went well and what didn’t
• Each week, write your reflections and review what went well and what didn’t
• Notice your bright spots of improvement and where you can keep improving
• After 2-3 weeks of testing, evaluate if there’s any areas you’d like to retest and try a new variable
• Repeat and continue indefinitely

Taking ownership of your body is the first step to a healthier life.

It starts with your habits.

Then, your routines.

What you do each day is a reflection of who you are.

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

They said sleep is non-existent as a parent.

Just found out it’s true.

What is sleep again? 😁

- Gabriel

Whenever you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:

#1 Join our free high-performance fitness FB group to get access to dozens of live trainings recorded along with a tight-knit group of leaders who want to get healthy, lean, and strong.

#2 Are you a high achiever who wants to be lean, strong, and lead by example? Apply for private 1:1 coaching and get in the best shape of your life (2-week waiting list).

#3 Want to fuel your fitness curiosity and follow along with the latest findings, insights, and evidence-based practices? Let's be friends on Facebook and Instagram. :)