I don’t believe in strict routines.

It’s always seemed unnatural to do the same practice at the same time every day. If the world and its creatures change with the seasons, it makes sense for us to shift with the weather as well. When it comes to habits, immaculate consistency is robotic.

Despite this, I am an advocate of doing good things repeatedly over time: 1% improvements every day can lead to huge results later down. A solution to build productive, yet sustainable and natural habits, is the 10% difference rule.

The 10% difference rule basically means every day, change 10% of your routine good habit to keep it interesting. Some of these examples include:

• Wear a slightly different outfit every day (change the socks, or underwear, or hat)
• Brush your teeth in a slightly different pattern each time
• Begin each journal prompt with a different entry

This has two benefits.

First, you still retain your habits, but it becomes funner. In mixing up the nature of the activity, you don’t compromise the effectiveness of it. If an experiment leads to failure of the habit (say, brushing your teeth with your feet), then change the intervention.

Second, you will learn more. The act of thinking of, and trying new variations will cultivate curiosity at the confidence. You may begin to discover more about your capabilities and weaknesses, and notice how you respond to shifting circumstances. These trials often make great stories to tell later on as well.

Even now, this post is an example of a 10% difference rule. I rarely ever write “instructive” pieces like this one, but tonight I just decided to mix it up. These last ten minutes have been great fun.