Morning me (that wakes up full of good intentions and motivation) sets up strategies for lazy afternoon me so lazy afternoon me can still be lazy but achieves the minor goals morning me see out to achieve.

That was a life changing moment for me. I started waking up so much more rested, and without immediate morning stress. I got up later than I used to set my alarm for, but much earlier than I used to actually get up. Alarms that interrupt deep morning sleep are so hard to deal with.

I set my goal to floss one tooth a day. And the trigger for it was always before I could brush my teeth I need to complete that one goal, and then give myself a big smile and raise my arms in triumph. And then I could brush my teeth.

I did that for a few days and found that it was quite easy to stick to. I then started flossing a few more teeth, until I was doing them all. That was six years ago, and to this day I floss every night. Sometimes I'm very tired, but my goal remains the same, floss one tooth, so some nights I just floss one tooth, but most of the time I do them all.

For me the key has been two things, remove thinking and at least five minutes.

- Find a programme, doesn't really matter which one as long as it's one you can follow for at least six months.

- Set the days you're working out.

- Pack or prepare everything the evening before.

Less thinking is less opportunity to go "Hmmm, I'm tired. I'll do it tomorrow". Just follow the programme. On those days do that amount of reps of those exercises.

The five minutes thing is that I always do at least warm up and then five minutes more. After that I'm allowed to stop, but at that point I'm changed, at the right place, warmed up and doing it. 39/40 times I do the workout.

My brain is ridiculously easy to fool, it's quite convenient.

The key is to wake up earlier, have a coffee, and just show up. Even if you don't feel like shipping, just write down your thoughts. Consistency keeps the habit going.