If you’ve ever pushed a child on a swing, you’ll know that a small shove at the top of the swing goes a long way, as the child’s momentum carries it forward.

If you push the swing elsewhere, you’ll either push against the momentum, or have less leverage.

It’s the same principle in behaviour change – small changes which take advantage of any existing momentum or leverage in someone’s life are more powerful.

So what might the swing represent in this metaphor?

I’d suggest one candidate would be the body’s circadian rhythm.

All humans possess it. It affects every cell in our body. And its role is to tee up certain behaviours at certain times. It’s a source of momentum.

Yet so many of us are ignoring or battling this rhythm – and then wondering why it’s so hard to push the swing…

A High Performance Routine is based on the idea that what you do matters, but *when* you do it matters too.

Small changes as part of a rhythm have bigger effects.

If you’re looking to establish a high performance rhythm this year, you can try our assessment, or follow me for weekly posts on this topic.

In the meantime two questions to think about:
1.     When do you have most leverage (or control) over your day?
2.     What small ‘shove’ in your day would give you the most momentum?