Thirty days is long enough to change a pattern and short enough to see the end. Here is a plan that adds one layer per week instead of everything on day one. WEEK 1: THE ANCHOR One rule only. Wake at the same time seven days a week, including the weekend. No other change. A fixed wake time repairs sleep, appetite, and training more than any supplement you will buy this year. Log the wake time daily. WEEK 2: THE BODY Keep the wake time. Add movement every day: 30 minutes of training on four days, a 20-minute walk on the other three. Also add hydration, roughly two to three litres a day depending on your size and climate. Log both. WEEK 3: THE MIND Keep weeks one and two. Add two rules. First, no phone for the first 30 minutes after waking. Second, ten minutes of reading before sleep instead of a screen. These two attack the same enemy at both ends of the day. WEEK 4: THE CUT Keep everything. Now remove one thing that is costing you: alcohol, pornography, late-night scrolling, sugar after dinner. One. Choose the one you would least like to give up, because that is the one holding the leash. THE DAILY OATH Every day of the thirty, state the commitment before you start, and mark the day when it is done. Stating it in the morning and marking it at night closes the loop, and the closed loop is what makes the habit stick. RULES FOR THE WHOLE MONTH Never miss twice. A floor version of every habit counts as done. No adding new habits mid-week. No restarting at day one after a single miss. AT DAY 30 Keep the two habits that changed the most and drop the rest. Then run another thirty. Track the whole month in the Barracks so the record, not your memory, tells you what worked.

The 30-Day Discipline Challenge: A Week-by-Week Plan