The time of resolutions is sitting on top of us, one week in. Have you broken yours yet? Such a pessimistic and shitty take on it but let’s be real; how many times have you hyped yourself up to make these great big awesome changes and then 1, maybe 2 weeks in you lose your will and *POOF* you are right back where you started? If you say “Well I’ve never…” you’re either full of crap, or you’re in denial. Own it and lets move on, shall we?
I too have been guilty of being a Resolutionary (the term I may use in excess when it comes to people setting huge unattainable goals on Jan 1st and then they all but disappear by call it February 15th at the latest) and this year I’m not on board with it. Instead I’ve chosen to approach the BHAGs (Big-Huge-Ass-Goals) I have set for myself this year as one day/week/month at a time achievements. What behaviors do I have to engage in each day so that I can check the box and keep moving forward towards my goal? That is the question I ask myself each night before I shut it down, and each morning when I fire it up.
Currently I’m working on getting back in to my morning routine, writing for at least 15 minutes each day, and completing a Whole 30 reset.
Those are my focus.
That’s it.
The list of all the things I would like to be doing is so much longer, but I am not capable of expanding my view-point beyond this horizon. If I do I will set myself up to fail almost immediately, and that feels really shitty.
In the book Atomic Habits by James Clear (which is phenomenal, and you should read it) he talks about changing the behavior that results in the habit. In fact that’s the basis of creating Atomic Habits. It’s the small things and what leads up to doing whatever it is you are trying to achieve that matter more than the habit itself. Baby steps become giant freaking leaps when taken consistently.
In my case habit #1 is getting back to my morning routine. That includes waking up a solid couple of hours before anyone in my house (currently the goal is 430 during the week 5-530 on the weekend) getting my coffee, writing my morning pages, listening to Darren Daily, preparing for whatever lies ahead in my day and going from there. I could be doing WAY more in that roughly 2 hours, but getting back into the groove of getting up that early is step 1. My alarm is nowhere near my bed so I have to physically get out of bed to shut it down. I move pretty quick all things considered because while I don’t care if it wakes my husband, I do care if it wakes up my kids. Once I’m out of bed I move, assess, and stay up. There is no point in crawling back into bed, regardless of how tempting once I’m already out of it. Now that I’m up, the next steps I’m working through are what am I accomplishing in that time? Currently it’s what I’ve mentioned above but as the habit forms and sticks I know it will evolve to be more productive and on point to other larger things.
Number 2 is writing for 15 minutes each day. I do that anyway with my daily pages, but that writing is not intended for anyone but Me, so I need to write for 15 more minutes words that are meant to be experienced by other people. A larger goal of mine is to blog more consistently, so creating that content fits the bill. Getting up early give me time I might not otherwise have to write. Writing for 15 minutes will create content to publish, which will get pushed out the interwebs, which will hopefully be absorbed by someone who might need it and the cycle will continue to grow. Habit 1 and 2 feed off one another, which pushes me that much more to make sure I prioritize it.
Last but not least is my Whole 30. Lord has this been a long time coming. From Halloween to Christmas last year was a gluttonous, revolting, free for all. I admit it, and I have paid for it. Inflammation, fatigue, looking and feeling like the Goodyear Blimp, and general not-niceness have been my major symptoms and I’m so over them all. I made the decision to attempt another Whole 30 back in December, and now one week in I know that I made the right decision. More on that in the future, but while I acknowledge that I still have quite a way to go, this decision is one that needs to be seen to completion for a large myriad of personal reasons. I’m on track and that is what is important to me.
This particular post veered off in ways I had not originally intended but I’m going to stick it out and let it be. Making resolutions is a fine way to kickstart yourself on a path to making changes. If that is how you need to go about it then get down with your bad self. But, if you want those resolutions to stick, I suggest taking a smarter and even smaller approach by narrowing down the little steps you need to consistently walk first before you can achieve the big jump. Don’t allow yourself to say one thing but only achieve a small piece of it. Set that goal, then figure out all the steps required for you to get there. Do them, daily. Then have a look at the original resolution at the end of the day, the week, the month. Are you closer? Are you still on the path towards it? Yes? Awesome!!! Keep doing what you’re doing. No? Why? Take a step back and start again. If 2019 is meant to be “Your Year” then don’t settle for anything less. Take the small steps, show up for yourself every day, and keep moving in the direction you know you want to go. I promise it will be worth it.
See you next time Awesome Humans!
S