Rebound Days

Alongside having a growth mindset, the most important belief system to have in your life is being self-disciplined.

I define self-discipline a bit differently, and less rigidly - It’s the habit of making the right choices, and taking right actions, consistently despite circumstances.

By this definition, we all have moments where we lack self-discipline. We make the indulgent choice in our diet rather than the healthy one. We get lost in distractions rather than focusing on the most important thing to do in the day. And the problem is, these lapses in self-discipline often create a slippery slope that lead to more poor choices.

That’s why it’s so important that we have checks and balances in place so that when we start to drift, we can be routed back on track.

One of the best ways to bring yourself back into your core habits, daily disciplines, and high-performance routines is to have rebound days. On these days we remind ourselves of our protocols, renew our commitments, and add extra priority and accountability to the choices we make.

Tactically, this requires intentionality. When we are more prepared and organized with how we want to show up, we make it easier to do so. Rather than it always being a battle of will power, you can set up your environment for success to make desired good choices easier.

After a cheat day in your health or a distracted day in your work, you make a detailed schedule for the next day that represents the level of performance you want to hold yourself to. This then makes it easier for you to fit in the exercise, healthy meals, self-care habits, and work tasks that allow for you to have a great rebound day.

The faster we can rebound and get back into our optimal daily routine, the easier it will be overall. The further you drift the harder it is to work your way back. 

So if you had a day where you didn’t live up to being the person you wanted to, my primary recommendation is to schedule out what tomorrow will look like instead.

Detailed scheduling is what I call a Super Habit - A small, easy action that creates disproportionately positive results for you. Taking 5 minutes to plan your next day creates hours of focus.

There are 9 Super Habits in total that are outstandingly effective just like this. They each help you create healthy, productive, high-quality days with very little effort.  If you want to learn what the other 8 Super Habits are, click here and I’ll tell you all about each one and the single daily process that makes you consistent with each!