What does flossing have to do with meeting women? Everything. And nothing. Let me explain.

I like to floss in the shower. I'm weird like that. I get into the shower, I floss and I move onto the next step. The other day, I was feeling really lazy and decided to skip a day. Bad bad bad. Skipping a day flossing is not the worst thing in the world. But what it does is hugely problematic. Once I skip a day and its okay in my mind, flossing stops being automatic. I've broken my habit. Now, when I step into the shower, I have a huge question in my mind: Do I floss today or do I not floss today?

It's good for me to floss every day. But would it be so bad if I flossed 6 out of 7 days? Probably not. I probably would not see a huge rise in my cavities. But you and I know, that's not usually what happens. 6 out of 7 days turns into 50% the days. And then all of a sudden, I'm flossing 1 out of 7 days. Or 1 out of 30 days.

How did I go from skipping one day to flossing only once a month? It was because of that quick rationalization that it's okay to skip one day. Theoretically, it would be. But that one day causes an avalanche.

It's the same thing for me with going out and talking with women.

There is a cost for me when I go out to meet women. I'm old. I get tired from walking around. If I'm going to be seeing a woman tonight, I'm tempted to just skip it for today. But what happens? Tomorrow I'll have an even better reason to skip it. I won't feel right. Or the weather will suck. My brain is good at coming up with a million reasons not to do something.

And the worst part about this is that it was once automatic. Now it's a chore. Getting up and going out has now become something I need to think about. I agonize over it. It takes a ton of mental energy.

The truth is, if you've got a habit in place...

You should be scared to death of missing a day.

And if you don't have a habit in place, the quickest way to get one is to not let yourself miss a day. Even if it's pouring rain, I still go out and take a walk around the local supermarket and talk with someone. Even if I feel like crap. Just so I don't miss a day.

The habit is more important than what you accomplish. Because without it, you soon won't accomplish anything at all.