Oh so many good questions. I agree that I'm really consistent in the mornings - mostly, except on a morning where I didn't sleep well sometimes it's harder - and the rest of the day is way more challenging. I have been using a paper version in my journal where on one side I track my feelings for each day and on the other side I track whatever habits I want to pay extra attention to this month. I just make 30 or so colored bubbles next to it and then I write the day on if I did it. I've come to accept it will not be "perfect" nor does it have to be, but if I have the things that are important to me on that page and I have to look at it (nearly) daily, it does really remind me.
Some of what I track are things like did I do my PT exercises, did I walk, did I do qi gong, did I meditate and others are things like practicing self compassion and learning something new. I've also learned to give myself credit if I partly do a thing - like if I really want to meditate for 20 min a day but I only did 5, it counts. If I want to go up and down the stairs 3 times, 3 times a day and I do it once, it counts. It's a work in progress - always.
Tracking in a journal sounds so much more satisfying. And there can be colored pens and pencils! Maybe even stickers?
I very much approve of the idea of getting credit for partly doing the thing. I get stuck in this idea that it's all or nothing. If I set out to walk for 3 miles and only get 2.6, it's a failure, which is just a ridiculous way to think. Thanks for reminding me of that!
So much truth in here. I went on a longer than usual vacation recently and it amazed me that many of the habits I thought I “needed to function” I actually don’t need at all. They’re just habits related to being at home and working from home.
Flossing is my favorite habit that was hard for me at first to instill, but is now effortless.
Also feel you on the habit of staying at home and not socializing... I used to go out SO much and now it’s like I can’t be bothered, nor do I really want to invite people over. It’s wild when I consider the extremeness of the shift in my own preference. Humans are so malleable.
We are so malleable! Which is both wonderful and terrifying! And we convince ourselves that we have so much more control over our lives than we actually do, I think.
Wow, flossing is a habit I’m still working on. I do it, but also deeply resent having to do it. Probably because it’s not a habit I’d choose for myself.
Oh, good, because after I wrote it I thought, “Do I sound a little neurotic?” But if you feel that way, we’re not neurotic or we are, but I’m in good company.
It’s too late to do anything about improving one’s life. Ben Franklin tried it way back and finally laughed it off. He made a list of 12 virtues he thought he needed to work on, then let some friends read the list to see if he missed anything. They all agreed he need to include humility, which he did.
Then he set about trying to perfect himself one virtue at a time per day. He soon discovered that by the time he got to the end of the list, he was back to messing up on the first items on the list, which is why he finally decided to let ol’Ben be Ben. If Ben Franklin couldn’t do it, who do I think I am if I think I can triumph where he failed? The best I can hope achieve is to live out my final years as a couch potato mostly out of everyone else’s way. You got to play the hand you were dealt.
One thing he never tried to give up was his love for affairs with older women. His eight reasons are borderline salacious. His autobiography probably should be kept at the library’s front desk instead of out in the general population.
Oh so many good questions. I agree that I'm really consistent in the mornings - mostly, except on a morning where I didn't sleep well sometimes it's harder - and the rest of the day is way more challenging. I have been using a paper version in my journal where on one side I track my feelings for each day and on the other side I track whatever habits I want to pay extra attention to this month. I just make 30 or so colored bubbles next to it and then I write the day on if I did it. I've come to accept it will not be "perfect" nor does it have to be, but if I have the things that are important to me on that page and I have to look at it (nearly) daily, it does really remind me.
Some of what I track are things like did I do my PT exercises, did I walk, did I do qi gong, did I meditate and others are things like practicing self compassion and learning something new. I've also learned to give myself credit if I partly do a thing - like if I really want to meditate for 20 min a day but I only did 5, it counts. If I want to go up and down the stairs 3 times, 3 times a day and I do it once, it counts. It's a work in progress - always.
Tracking in a journal sounds so much more satisfying. And there can be colored pens and pencils! Maybe even stickers?
I very much approve of the idea of getting credit for partly doing the thing. I get stuck in this idea that it's all or nothing. If I set out to walk for 3 miles and only get 2.6, it's a failure, which is just a ridiculous way to think. Thanks for reminding me of that!
So much truth in here. I went on a longer than usual vacation recently and it amazed me that many of the habits I thought I “needed to function” I actually don’t need at all. They’re just habits related to being at home and working from home.
Flossing is my favorite habit that was hard for me at first to instill, but is now effortless.
Also feel you on the habit of staying at home and not socializing... I used to go out SO much and now it’s like I can’t be bothered, nor do I really want to invite people over. It’s wild when I consider the extremeness of the shift in my own preference. Humans are so malleable.
We are so malleable! Which is both wonderful and terrifying! And we convince ourselves that we have so much more control over our lives than we actually do, I think.
Yep. Seriously.
Wow, flossing is a habit I’m still working on. I do it, but also deeply resent having to do it. Probably because it’s not a habit I’d choose for myself.
I feel so much in common with what you’ve said here.
Oh, good, because after I wrote it I thought, “Do I sound a little neurotic?” But if you feel that way, we’re not neurotic or we are, but I’m in good company.
It’s too late to do anything about improving one’s life. Ben Franklin tried it way back and finally laughed it off. He made a list of 12 virtues he thought he needed to work on, then let some friends read the list to see if he missed anything. They all agreed he need to include humility, which he did.
Then he set about trying to perfect himself one virtue at a time per day. He soon discovered that by the time he got to the end of the list, he was back to messing up on the first items on the list, which is why he finally decided to let ol’Ben be Ben. If Ben Franklin couldn’t do it, who do I think I am if I think I can triumph where he failed? The best I can hope achieve is to live out my final years as a couch potato mostly out of everyone else’s way. You got to play the hand you were dealt.
One thing he never tried to give up was his love for affairs with older women. His eight reasons are borderline salacious. His autobiography probably should be kept at the library’s front desk instead of out in the general population.