Two Minutes Can Change Your Life!

 ‘Rahul, have you been slacking off your exercise routine?’ asked Rinku. ‘It’s showing dude.’

‘Arre don’t remind me Rinku,’ said Rahul. ‘It’s so difficult to keep it going despite my best intentions. I get up, snooze for five minutes and then never get going. After missing a few days, I stopped.’

‘Same here man,’ said Rinku. ‘I planned to study for two hours every day but I just can’t seem to sustain it. I don’t know how to change it. I feel like such a loser.’

‘I have a technique that can change it all,’ said Rakesh. ‘It’s a superb idea called the 2-minute rule that I found on James Clear’s blog. Haven’t missed a day of writing since.’

‘Wow,’ said Rinku. ‘What’s it about bhaiyya?’

‘The 2-minute rule says that any activity should not be for more than two minutes,’ said Rakesh. ‘Just two minutes. Breakdown your big activity into a 2-minute version and get going right away. Rahul, put on your workout gear and get started – a couple of pushups or crunches – for two minutes. And Rinku, study one page. No major preparation, no pressure.’

‘What?’ asked Rinku. ‘That’s it?’

‘But bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘What can we achieve in two minutes as against our two-hour schedules?’

‘Good question Rahul,’ said Rakesh. ‘Our big plans overwhelm us and we don’t even get started. Thinking of two-hour routines paralyses us into inaction. By making it easy and getting started, we bypass our suspicious mind which sees no threat in the 2-minute activity. There are two advantages here. Firstly, once we get started, we normally tend to carry on for way longer. Secondly, even if we did the activity for two minutes, two pushups or one page of study daily, it’s better than doing nothing at all right?’

‘Yes bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘And we feel good when we don’t break the chain.’

‘True,’ said Rakesh. ‘Doing things repeatedly and consistently is the key to build habits and achieve great results. By showing up consistently for what we committed for, we get more work done and feel good about it. Get the body started for two minutes, quieten the mind and you’re on your way to achieve what you set out to achieve - and more. The best part is that we can do the 2-minute drill anytime and as many times in a day as we like.’

‘Wow,’ said Rahul. ‘Why didn’t we think of this before? I’ll use the 2-minute rule in all areas of my life.’

 ‘Yes bhaiyya,’ said Rinku. ‘This 2-minute rule will change my life surely.’

Pro Tip: When you feel stuck about doing anything regularly, start doing a two minute version of it. You end up doing much more than you intended to and more importantly, build a productive and effective habit that hastens your growth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Leadership Series - The Window and Mirror Approach

 ‘I’m upset with our Students Union President Ankita,’ said Rinku. ‘She’s taken all credit for the work I did for the student festival.’ ‘True,’ said Rahul. ‘She takes credit when go things well even if she hasn’t done anything and blames others when things go wrong. Reminds me of today’s politicians. No responsibility, only credit.’ ‘But that cannot be the right way to lead right?’ asked Rinku. ‘You’re right,’ said Rakesh. ‘Most leaders take all credit so they can project a larger than life image of themselves. On the other hand they bring others down by misinterpreting facts so they look better In comparison. But it’s an insecure way of leading. A good leader shares credit with the team and takes responsibility when things go wrong.’   ‘What’s the right way then bhaiyya?’ asked rinku. ‘Taking credit and blaming others seems to be the popular modus operandi.’ ‘Yes,’ smiled Rakesh. ‘It is paradoxical – but as we all know, a leader can lead well only when she is not a...
Read more

The Leadership Series - The Who of Leadership - People Represent Potential

 ‘So, what’s next?’ said Rinku looking at her notebook. ‘We’re all set to go – goals, roles, vision all in place.’ ‘Great,’ said Rahul. ‘’Now I hopeour team members do their best.’ ‘This is the most important aspect of your leadership,’ said Rakesh laughing. ‘People management. So don’t hope. How you manage people becomes the biggest diffrentiator for the leader.’ ‘Why bhaiyya? Won’t people deliver according to their capabilities?’asked Rinku. ‘No Rinku,’said Rakesh. ‘People are not like machines. They don’t deliver one standard. If you handle a person right she will go way beyond what sheis required to do. On the other hand, if you do not know how to handle them,people will work without any interest and enthusiasm. You may have the best systems and recruited the best resources, but if you do not know how to handle people on your side, your effort will fall flat.’ ‘That’s interesting?’ said Rinku. ‘So if they are handled right, people deliver much more than they normally ...
Read more

Paying Attention Pays

 ‘Bhaiyya, I invited my friends for a zoom party,’ said Rahul. ‘Those fools didn’t show up. I’m very upset.’ ‘No one came?’ asked Rakesh. ‘Rinku, Ali and Kapil came of course,’ said Rahul. ‘But I’m really upset with the others.’‘Rahul, do you realise this is a classic way to stay unhappy for no reason,’ asked Rakesh. ‘What bhaiyya?’ said Rahul. ‘Your attention is a precious resource Rahul,’ said Rakesh. ‘How you use it can make you happy or unhappy, succeed or fail.’ ‘How does it work bhaiyya?’ asked Rinku. ‘It’s simple Rinku,’ said Rakesh. ‘We can focus our attention on what we have and be happy or focus our attention on what we don’t have and stay unhappy. Most of us focus on what’s not there which makes us, and consequently others around us, unhappy. For example, Rahul, you should ask Rinku how she felt about the party.’ ‘Oh,’ smiled Rinku. ‘I felt pretty useless when Rahul ignored me and was more concerned about the others who didn’t show up. I wondered why I showed u...
Read more