A harsh truth on building habits

read on: themovementmemo.com

read time: 6 minutes 

Welcome to The Movement Memo, a bi-weekly newsletter where I share actionable tips to help you live your best day ever, every day.

Today's Programming 

• Movement: 5 rounds for time 

• Quote: Clear on ambition 

• Lesson: A harsh truth on building habits 

• Optimization: My ultimate sleep hack

Today's Movement 

Complete 5 rounds for time of:

• 10 burpee pull-ups
• 15 GHD sit-ups
• 20 alternating single-leg squats
• 20-meter walking lunges

Today's Quote

You thought you knew exactly what you wanted to do with your life. But now, you're second-guessing yourself. 

That's cognitive dissonance—when your beliefs clash with your new experiences or information. 

It's that uncomfortable feeling you get when things aren't adding up the way you expected.

Now imagine you're on a road trip with a map that you were sure was accurate. 

Halfway through the journey, you realize the landmarks don't match up, and you're lost. 

You have two choices: keep following the map, hoping it will eventually make sense, or stop, reassess, and find a new route that gets you to your destination. 

Cognitive dissonance is that nagging feeling telling you something's off. Addressing it means pulling over and finding a better path.

Today's Lesson Learned

The habits you build will dictate how you behave for the rest of your life.

A harsh truth: You have to be conscious of both what you choose to do, and what you choose not to do because they are equally weighted.

Both impact who you become, both shape how you behave, and now is the time to build the foundation.

Most people do not eat consistently well. We drink too much and spend too much. 

We struggle to build strong nutritional, exercise, and financial habits because these are the elements that they don’t teach us in school.

It falls on you to teach yourself. It falls on you to be disciplined. It falls on you to be self-motivated. 


Here’s what I believe to be true: the actions you take today do not dictate how the rest of your life will unfold. But they do build the foundation for what the rest of your life will look like.

What I mean by that, is if you don’t prioritize the habits you want later in life today, how will you build them when you're the managing director at your company, have a wife, 3 kids, and everything else that goes along with life as you age? 


Your life is 100% within your control. But it falls on you to take control. No one else will do it for you. You can go anywhere. Do anything. Take risks. Laugh. Travel. Explore. Learn. Grow. And Fail. 

And you should do all of those things.

As much as you can. 

But also be conscious of how the person you want to become would behave.

Give yourself the grace to fail. Recognize that it is O.K. to not “be there” yet. Know this is normal and this is how we all feel.

But a helpful reframe is to think through decisions not through the lens of who you are today, but rather who you want to be. 

It helps to change your perspective and get you out of your own head. Work to limit the amount of time between thought and decision.

Actively close the gap. Build the foundational habits to create the life you want and become the person you know you can be.

A powerful exercise is to make a list of the habits that the person you want become performs:

Here are 12 of mine: 


• He wakes up early to read, write, learn, and create.

• He trains hard and with purpose

• He does great work

•  He shows up for his family and friends

• He partakes in consistent behavior

• He is trusted

• He eats single-ingredient foods

• He sleeps 8 hours per night

• He enjoys life and isn’t too preoccupied with work

• He has a partner who makes him better, who pulls him out of his head and forces him to become present

• He mentors and teaches 

• He shares his decision-making practices with the world; because the world becomes a better place when people share their ideas. 

To become that person you know you can be, you need to start consistently behaving like that person.

Spend 15 minutes this weekend thinking through this thought experiment and write out this list by hand.

Then, place it on your desk. Look at it every day.

And close the gap.

Today's Optimization

Sleep is the single most important protocol in my recovery and I have used Beam every night for years. I control everything about my pre-bed routine, from when I stop looking at screens to what time I take Beam. The importance of the routine is almost as important as the product; the action of making and drinking beam signals to my body that it is time to get ready for bed.  

Since taking Beam my sleep schedule has become way more consistent, from what time I am able to fall asleep, to consistently waking up at 6:30 am every day. I sleep through the night, every night, and wake up feeling energized, ready to train. Today Beam is offering Movement Memo subscribers a deal: 35% off your first order when you subscribe and then 20% off all following orders! Plus, when you subscribe, you will receive a FREE frother with your first order! Use code “EHINMAN” at checkout.

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Publisher: Eric Hinman

Editor-in-chief: Bobby Ryan