Perhaps the single hardest thing to do is to stick to doing something for some period of time. Especially if it’s good for you! Doing detrimental things over long periods is much easier by comparison. Maybe it’s a health food thing, an exercise regimen or a debt-reduction plan. They’re hard to stick to. Maybe you’re venturing into that bold area of entrepreneurship where giving up is the natural and easy thing to do. Or maybe, like me, you’re trying to stick to writing and after some time, even that gets difficult to maintain. So how exactly do you stick to something? I’ll show you.

Smoking is bad for you

Smoking is just about the worst thing that you can do to yourself and those around you. I won’t pretend that there are good aspects to the habit, because even smokers know how bad it is. There are about a thousand ways to stop smoking — you can buy gums, pills, hypnotherapy sessions, e-cigarettes and the list goes on. But one of the best indicators of whether or not you will actually stop smoking is, believe it or not, the number of attempts you make! Yup. So maybe this time around you decide to try a nicotine patch and that works for about 2 weeks. Next time, you try a gum and that works for about 3 weeks. It turns out that the lapses don’t matter as much as the attempts.

Thinking is good for you

The best professional athletes, time and time again, talk about the importance of visualization and practice to train their “muscle memory”. Think about that for a hot second. Professional athletes of the highest caliber just sit there... and think. They obviously practice and play a ton too to make sure that their body is in top shape. But the thinking part really takes some reflection. Visualizing something over and over again so that when that situation presents itself, they are physically, mentally and emotionally prepared.

Repetition is awesome

Think about your own life and the things that you’re good at. You may have had “beginners luck” in some endeavor, but ultimately, the things you’re good at are the things you’ve done time and time again. I think of persistence that way. It’s like a muscle that you can train and be better at. Maybe you persist at exercise and as a result, not only have you developed whatever muscles you were exercising, but also the muscle of persistence. You’ve become a tad bit better at sticking the course and staying true to a plan you’ve developed.

The secret

You guessed it. To stick to something — anything, really — you need to get into the habit of sticking to things. Visualize what it would be like to finish the thing. Imagine the obstacles you’ll face before you face them. See the good, the bad and the complete in your mind. Really live it. Then, once you’ve gotten all that thinking done, repeat. If you fall off that diet, it’s okay, just get back on it. If you find that you’re a software developer and you never finish your projects, that’s okay, pick one of them back up and get to it.

It’s simple. So simple. To stick to something all you need to do is stick to it. The more things you stick to, the better you get at well, sticking to things.

About the author: Shamoon Siddiqui is a serial entrepreneur, software developer, investor and public speaker in the NYC area. To get more awesome content like this, just sign up for my mailing list.