Don't miss twice.

One of the bigger takeaway tactics from Atomic Habits, among other purveyors of good habit-making and -keeping, is the “don’t miss twice” rule: everyone has a bad day occasionally, but make sure that when you miss your intended habit once, you won’t miss it again.

How do you do that?

Hopefully the hard day is a one-off. Then, it’s easy: your next day is “normal” and you just do the thing.

What if that’s not the case, though? What if you can foresee that won’t be the case?

How to not miss twice

• Know that hard days happen, sometimes sequentially.
• Have a plan to recover.
• Be willing to flex what “done” or “success” means, and have that be known in advance.

That last one is crucial for when you’ve got a couple tough days in a row. If you know in advance that you’ll find doing 10% of your normal acceptable, it’s a hell of a lot better than 0%, and you’re not just half-assing it in the moment–you’re following a plan.

Own the hard days, too.