Bookend Your Habits

As I discuss in Dragonslayer, good character by itself does not guarantee a happy marriage. However, strengthening character can turbocharge the speed in which a man assumes the Sigma Roles. Therefore, working to improve yourself still make a lot of sense—as long as you don't neglect the three Sigma Roles: (Protector, Provider, Presider).
Developing a good habit is a pretty simple process, as I've mentioned previously. Why then, do so many of us struggle when it comes to adding new habits to our repertoire?

I've noticed that when I follow a set, positive routine in the morning, the rest of my day is more likely to go well. I've also discovered that when I end my day with a set, positive routine, I'm more likely to be successful the following day.

I call this Bookending: creating a set of routines that hold a block of time in check. Imagine your morning and evening routines as a pair of bookends that hold the rest of the day together. The bigger your bookends (your morning and evening routines), the better they hold your books (your daily activities and habits) in place.
If you're having a hard time developing mid-day habits, it's usually because there are no bookends to sandwich them between—or your existing bookends are too far apart. To correct this, first analyze the bookends that you already have in place. For example, what signals the end of the morning and what leads to the start of your afternoon activities? Most people have a lunchtime ritual that moves them from morning to afternoon.

Think of your day as an extra long shelf. It is easier to manage several smaller sets books than it is to control a single, lengthy row of them. The more bookends you put on your shelf, the easier it is to add an extra book (a new habit or activity) and hold it in place.

Does your day lack routines that allow you to effectively control multiple blocks of time? If so, develop a new pair of bookends. When you do, it will become much easier to add additional positive habits to your book collection.

In summary, when working on developing a habit, first figure out which block of time will best support it, a block of time that is held together by a pair of bookends: one that starts a process and one that wraps it up. You'll discover that bookending is a much more stable method of building habits of character.