John Assaraf argues that showing up consistently matters more than how hard you push each time. On days you don't feel like it, ask yourself why you started, who depends on your consistency, and what skipping costs you. His "Law of Just a Little" says do the tiniest version: one paragraph, one minute, five minutes. Small actions build the identity of someone who actually does the thing.
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When you want to reinforce a positive, constructive, empowering habit, even a little bit of a positive reinforcement through behavior, through thoughts, through emotional connection to it is better than not doing it. Hey, do you know what one of the hardest things of being in the personal development industry, as an author, as a teacher, as somebody that some people look to for guidance and support and wisdom? The hardest thing is days that I just don't feel like doing what is needed that day, that hour that, you know, morning. So I've come up with a little mental game that I play with myself. And whether I'm tired, whether, you know, I'm just not up to it for whatever reason, I just don't feel like it. I do a couple things. Number one is I ask myself, why is it that I set out to do, whether it's my, you know, daily inner sizes, my visualization, my meditation, my mindfulness practice, why did I start doing it? And the answer, you know, in that particular case is to reinforce the neural patterns, to strengthen my mindset, knowing that habits create my behavior and my behavior creates my results. Then I ask myself, you know, whose life is impacted or whose lives are impacted by me following my daily rituals or habits or the behaviors that I know are going to help me achieve my goals and dreams? And so I think through all the people that depend on me to apply all the stuff that I'm teaching. So I'm not just teaching it, but they can see me applying it. They can see the results of it. And then I asked myself this one last question. What's the cost of me not doing it? And whenever I think about that last question, obviously going from two positive questions, you know, to this one challenging question, I think of the price I'd have to pay is that I don't reinforce a neural pattern that is going to empower me. I let myself down in taking action. I may let other people down if I don't follow through. Now, listen, every once in a while, it's okay to not feel like it and then not do what you need to do every once in a while. But if you do that too often, then your identity shifts to somebody who does that too often, and that becomes part of your story and your identity. And then all of your behaviors line up with somebody who doesn't follow through and do what. What she or he says they're going to do. So I came up with this one little technique. It's called the law of Just a little. And I just made that up, the Law of just a little. So whenever I don't feel like working out. Like today, for example, it's a day I just didn't feel like it. I just do a little bit. And so I went into my home gym and I rode the bike, recumbent bike, I don't know, for 15 minutes at an easy, easy pace. And then I did some bicep curls, really, really lightweight. And I did a little bit of stretching very, very gently. And I was only going to go in for like five minutes. I ended up being in there for like 25 minutes. And what does that do when you actually don't feel like it? Don't want to. You hear the self talk. That's disempowering. You feel, feel the emotions of ah, you know what I'm talking about. And then you go and do it well, then you reinforce that you are the character that can override the I don't feel like it muscle. You develop the identity of doing a little bit when you don't feel like it. You reinforce the positive pattern versus a negative pattern. You develop the willpower to override emotional power. So there's a lot of benefits to doing a little bit when you don't feel like doing any. And one of the things that I teach all of my students is this. Pay close attention. The habit is more important than the intensity. The habit is more important than the intensity or the duration. And so when you want to reinforce a positive, constructive, empowering habit, even a little bit of a positive reinforcement through behavior, through thoughts, through emotional connection to it is better than not doing it. Unless it's your rest day, it's your off day because those are important as well. So just think about when you don't feel like reading, you know, chapter in a book, read one paragraph. When you don't feel like exercising, do one minute. When you don't feel like making a sales call or two or three or four, you know, upgrade your skill on how to be better at that. There are positive behaviors that we can take that reinforce and empower us versus disempower us, Deconstruct the positive patterns. So there's your little thought for today. And I thought it would be appropriate on a day that I just didn't feel like it and now I did it and I feel better. That I did A little bit is better than no thing. Hey, this is John. And if you like that video, watch the next video because it is packed with things that you can do right now to achieve success way faster than ever before.
