Are there any specific recommendations on how to meet these targets consistently in the long run? I’m afraid that I could meet my targets by just trying harder and being more conscious about them for a few weeks, but this won’t lead to better long-term habits and I’ll just return to baseline.
Focus on building sustainable habits that get easier over time rather than sprinting briefly. There are good sources for this, such as the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
I think this is totally fair and another reason not to do the Pentathlon: the Pentathlon is often particularly useful for the two weeks of the competition, but the habits often don’t hold very well after. If you want to make the habits endure, I recommend setting up strong systems during the Pentathlon and holding yourself accountable for keeping them afterwards. For example, the Pentathlon’s sleep target will possibly lead you to set up an alarm on your phone, your computer, or your programmed lightbulbs, etc. to go to bed on time. Set up a target of keeping them for one month after the Pentathlon, and set up an accountability system for that (a bet with a friend, a bet with a friend you met during the Pentathlon, etc).
There are often discussions on the Pentathlon Slack about these questions so people can help each other problem-solve!
just trying harder and being more conscious about them for a few weeks, but this won’t lead to better long-term habits
It’s a big question, but a partial answer is identifying patterns that work for you and designing around them for the long term. Doing a retrospective on successful times, identifying the causal factors, and then designing them into one’s tools, workflows, environment, social circle, lifestyle, etc seems to be a big part of success.
Are there any specific recommendations on how to meet these targets consistently in the long run? I’m afraid that I could meet my targets by just trying harder and being more conscious about them for a few weeks, but this won’t lead to better long-term habits and I’ll just return to baseline.
Focus on building sustainable habits that get easier over time rather than sprinting briefly. There are good sources for this, such as the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
I think this is totally fair and another reason not to do the Pentathlon: the Pentathlon is often particularly useful for the two weeks of the competition, but the habits often don’t hold very well after. If you want to make the habits endure, I recommend setting up strong systems during the Pentathlon and holding yourself accountable for keeping them afterwards. For example, the Pentathlon’s sleep target will possibly lead you to set up an alarm on your phone, your computer, or your programmed lightbulbs, etc. to go to bed on time. Set up a target of keeping them for one month after the Pentathlon, and set up an accountability system for that (a bet with a friend, a bet with a friend you met during the Pentathlon, etc).
There are often discussions on the Pentathlon Slack about these questions so people can help each other problem-solve!
It’s a big question, but a partial answer is identifying patterns that work for you and designing around them for the long term. Doing a retrospective on successful times, identifying the causal factors, and then designing them into one’s tools, workflows, environment, social circle, lifestyle, etc seems to be a big part of success.