No 0 Days: The Habit I'm Bringing to 2023

It’s popular to hate on New Year’s resolutions.

I get it — studies show that they mostly don’t work.

And if you really want to change something in your life, why wait until January 1st to do it?

But there is something about the New Year that undeniably inspires change. It’s a collective moment to start a new leaf.

I’ll admit it — I do create a vision, and yes, “resolutions” for the New Year.

I have a handful of projects and goals for this year and barring unforeseen tragedies (like another pandemic), I think 2023 will be the most productive and rewarding year of my life (so far).

One of my plans to make this happen is to start a practice called “No 0 Days.”

I heard about “No Zero Days” from Justin Welsh in his “Saturday Solopreneur” Newsletter (it’s fantastic if you’re not subscribed).

No Zero Days is a commitment to show up with an intention of self-improvement every single day.

That means on your birthday.

On Thanksgiving.

Easter.

Christmas.

On your vacation.

It doesn’t mean you work all day and deny yourself any fun.

It’s about keeping that streak alive.

One of the biggest issues for my personal growth over the last couple of years has been falling out of momentum.

I’ll go through stretches where I am completely dialed in on all my goals and habits, but then some distracting obligation or event in life will come up, and my routine would get disrupted.

It’s not reasonable for most of us to expect life to allow us to stick to our precise routine 365 days a year.

No Zero Days is a way to keep the momentum streak alive despite the inevitable obstructions and distractions.

Here’s how I’m approaching No Zero Days for 2023:

Every day — and I mean every fucking day — I have to show up in each of these areas.

1. Exercise.

Your body needs rest, and it’s a stupid idea to try to train hard every single day of the year.

I’m not talking about training hard; I mean just showing up with the intention of exercising my body.

On a rest day, this could be stretching or yoga. It could be walking on the treadmill.

On a crazy-busy day, it could be a micro-workout of 10 minutes of pushups and jump squats.

2. Writing

All content, whether video or written on any social media platform, begins with writing. Writing is the skill that fuels all of it. And writing is the skill I will practice every day for 2023.

I’m not going to write 1000 words every day — on a holiday or a day where I might have taken a “day off,” it could be just writing a few tweet ideas in a journal or journaling for 10 minutes on an article idea.

3. Meditation

My meditation practice has been my most inconsistent habit over the past few years.

This is dumb because the positive benefit of meditation is obvious to me — I feel noticeably more peaceful when I meditate.

2023 is the year I meditate for at least 10 minutes every single day.

This is easy to fit in. I have no excuses.

4. Cold Exposure

A cold shower is like a good workout — it never fails to make me feel 10 times better afterward.

Yet this has also been a habit that I’ve lacked consistency with.

I owe myself 2 minutes of a cold shower every day in 2023.

5. Conscious Consumption

It could be reading. Listening to a podcast or a YouTube video. Audible.

But whatever the medium, it has to be active conscious consumption over passive consumption.

Conscious consumption is when you focus on deeply understanding the content you’re consuming and thinking about how it relates to your worldview and how you can apply the lessons to your life.

For a minimum of 10 minutes, I have to show up and consciously consume every day in 2023.

1. Exercise

2. Write/Create

3. Meditate

4. Cold Exposure

5. Conscious Consumption

Every.

Damn.

Day.

No 0 Days.

If you like the idea of No 0 days, let me know in the comments what your daily non-negotiables be for 2023.

Happy New Year! I wish you a year of abundance and crushing the shit out of your big hairy audacious goals.