Redefining Normal

Every time I take a shower at my friend's house I feel weird. The experience is kinda gross and I always feel slimy afterward.

See, my friends live in East Texas. Where they live, the water is soft. Where I live, the water is hard.

There's so much salt and hard water in the ground, our real estate agent cracked more than one joke about it being called “Round Rock for a reason.”

For me, the soft water in the shower feels weird. After showering or washing my face, I always feel like there's still soap on my skin.

However, after about a week, my body begins to adjust. What was weird and uncomfortable in the beginning begins to feel normal and comfortable over time.

After thinking about it, I began to wonder what other situations this applied to. I wondered what else we get accustomed to over time, and if we could use this philosophy of “redefine normal” to our advantage.

I remembered a time last year when I decided to stop drinking Cokes.

For the first few days, I craved a soft drink. The sugary-sweetness called my name every time I opened the refrigerator. Then, after about a week of drinking only water and tea, I no longer craved a Coke with lunch. While it sucked in the beginning, it turned out to not be so bad.

I remembered when I started waking up three hours before work to read and write blog posts.

I've always been a night person. My entire life, I've preferred staying up late and sleeping in to getting up with the sun. Getting up three hours before I had to be at work was tough. However, after a couple of weeks, it got easier and I started to see the results of my effort.

I remember when my wife started exercising with one of her friends from work.

She's always been a healthy person, but when her colleague asked my wife to train with her, she took it to a whole new level. At first she didn't want to go. She complained about her knee aching and doubted if she could keep up with the workout. After about a month, however, she started feeling bad if she missed even just a couple of days at the gym.

In each of these situations, we had to redefine normal. What was difficult in the beginning not only became normal, but preferred.

Everyone who comes to me for coaching knows they need to make changes. It's not a mark against them, it's a fact of life.

We can't get where we're going and stay where we are at the same time (Tweet that!)

Today's habits determine tomorrow's victories (Tweet that!)

Every step along the way, any time I've seen improvements in myself or in my business, I've had to redefine normal. From new sleep schedules to new eating habits and routines. To make progress we have to make changes.

We can do almost anything for 7 days.

Then, what's seven more?

Before you know it you're a month down a new road and you're changing your life. You can do almost anything for seven days. Now get started.

Question: What changes do you need to make to redefine normal for you? Better yet, what changes have you already made and gotten great results?