This last year (2020/2021) has been a challenging time for everyone. My habit creation / maintenance has been all over the map during this time. In an attempt to bring the train back on to the rails I’m writing down some very basic things that I know I must do if I am to be healthy, happy and balanced. My hope is that by putting this list out into the wild I’ll be creating some type of subtle pressure on myself to maintain these habits.
I’ve formatted the post in such a way that I can quickly move things from my ‘Next Up’ list to my ‘Working on’ and then to my ‘Current’ list. ‘Current’ means that I feel like I’m doing the habit pretty successfully, and am pretty confident that it’s on it’s way to being a solid habit. I’m reasonably confident that the habit has become a more stable part of my life.
‘Working on’ are habits that are in their infancy. I’ve begun the process of establishing the habit, but I’m still working out the details. I’m doing the habit imperfectly. I recently reaized that this was a necessary category when I started trying to reboot my sleep patterns. I have many, many years of old habits that I’m working to unwire when it comes to sleep. I’ve had hundreds of false starts and stops over the years. I need a place to put a habit that needs a lot of work.
‘Next Up’ are aspirational habits. These are things that I may want to add to my life at some point, but that I don’t have the bandwidth to focus on right now.
I’m starting small, with things that might seem like complete no-brainers to the average person. This list is a work in progress. I’ll update periodically. We’ll see how it goes.
Current
- Brush, floss, rinse before bed
Working on
- Meditate daily
- Create a healthy sleep routine and stick to it consistently
- Grow my own sprouts and include them in my daily smoothie
- Eat salmon at least once a week
Next Up
- Resume daily walks (5 days a week)
- Resume strength training (5 days a week)
- Create and implement a daily stretching routine
Last edited: 8/4/21