Former Navy SEAL, author, and podcast host Jocko Willink once said something that I've repeated many times.
When you're on the path, he said, it's easier to stay on the path. When you're off the path, it's much easier to stay off the path.
For a habits-driven person like me, I've seen this lesson play out in many ways.
When I'm in really good shape, it's easier to stay in really good shape. When I'm out of shape, well, getting in shape is really hard.
When I'm getting up early and going to bed early, it's easier to keep getting up and going to bed early. When I let myself get distracted (usually by social media or a podcast), it's much harder to get up when a 5:30 alarm rings.
When I'm getting stuff done, it's much easier to keep getting stuff done. When I'm slacking, it's much harder to get going.
And now, since I started writing every day, it's become much easier to keep writing every day.
It's usually an external disruption that knocks us off the path. In response, we usually have to create an internal disruption to get back on.
A foot of snow and loss of power knocked me off the path.
It's time to get back on.