Writing Habit - Day 2

Set a goal for daily writing that you can maintain throughout the plan.  How long must you write?  What kind of writing qualifies?  Make your goal realistic enough to succeed, but large enough to stretch you - just a little.

So, Day 1 was a couple of weeks ago.  I had intended to write every day.  Like all things, I begin again.  My goal for writing is daily, for 15 minutes minimum.  For starters, I want to journal, and eventually move toward writing about the myriad of topics that interest me.  I think just writing daily is going to be a stretch.

I have been keeping up so-so with my other January goals.  I have just hit the midway point.  I have been almost completely successful at waking up by 7am.  Starting tomorrow, I'm going to push it back to 6:30am.  That is not going to be easy.  It is so very worth it though.  I have been able to get really good work/thinking done in the morning.  It is nice to start the day easy instead of in a rush.  I've really been enjoying it, honestly.  Especially having some quiet time just for me to be alone (Natalie typically sleeps in). Eventually I want to use my morning time for meditating and taking Sammie for a walk/run.  Right now I'm just getting into the habit of getting up earlier.

Where I fail (and it also leads to failing my no-coffee goal) is if I drink/stay out late the night before.  Especially the drinking part.  I feel that I need a little caffeine to crank me up to "functional".  Today was just such a day.  Natalie and I went out for beers before having dinner last night, and then all judgement went out the window.  Three drinks, 10 hot-wings, and a sausage pizza later, I went directly to bed without drinking any water.  Oops.  I managed to get up for yoga this morning.  But by 5pm, I was feeling sad, brain was not firing so good, and I caved into a mocha from Johnson Public House.  It was decadent.  Long term, I think I will mostly drink white tea and rarely use a little coffee for perks when I need it.  Caffeine can be a good tool, but a bad habit.

One of my monthly give-up goals is probably going to have to be alcohol.  It really takes the wind out of my sails.

Finally, I have made zero progress on my BHAG: Guatemala Estate.  I need to get going on that again. Ugh.  Action is hard.  But this is a good way to get started: Zen Productivity.  It's amazing how anticipation and procrastination is so very painful, and the actual doing isn't all that bad at all in the end.  Silly brain, all worked up over nothing.

Life Overhaul 2014

My beautiful sister, Daniella, posted to facebook something to the effect of: I have so many New Year’s resolutions, that I think I actually need a life overhaul.  In the last few weeks of 2013, I did some serious research (actually, rabbit-hole style internet browsing) around the topics of life-planning, project-planning, goal-setting, habit-forming, etc.  What is clear to me, is that I have something upwards of 10 habits that I want to change, some two or three dozen goals and project I want to work on, and so many life plans, so many… 

For day to day I am going to rely on HabitRPG.com to keep me on track for committing to new habits.  Lift.do is also a fun resource for taking on some new habits that I hadn’t really known how to approach.  From Lift.do, I am starting a Jump Roping routine, a daily writing habit, and a 30-day de-cluttering that I will probably run on loop every month.  I only just arrived at Level 2 on HabitRPG and am looking forward to when the real fun begins.  Right now, it seems just a little lame.

Taking a cue from The Happiness Project and Zenhabits, I realize that it will be tough to change 20 habits at once, so I am going to stage them out by month.  I will not entirely ignore the other habits, but I wont hold myself super-accountable to them.  I will focus on maybe 2 at a time.  I thought one would be a habit that I want to keep, and one would be a habit that I just want to try out.  I also have so many projects, that I will probably stage those out too.

How did I come up with this list?  I imagined a good day.  What would that look like to me?  What habits help set me up for a good day?  I realized that most of the things I came up with take place between when I wake up and when I leave the house for work, so I decided that my very first January goal would be to wake up at the same time every morning, starting with 7:00am, and progressing to 6:30am by the end of the month.  I already noticed this morning that I had extra time in the morning to eat a good breakfast, and just have an easy relaxed start to the day, instead of rushed.  I even got some work done this morning!  So, without further ado:

January Habit Goals:

1. Wake up by 6:30 a.m.  Some tricks that will help make this happen: First, if I hit the snooze, go back to sitting upright in bed, rather than laying down.  Sitting upright will gradually help your brain wake up.  Second, drink a huge glass of water and then a second one. You are dehydrated after sleeping all night without drinking water in your winter-bone-dry air. Water will also help get you going. I did both of these things this morning and it really worked, especially sitting upright in bed, rather than laying back down. I also need to move the dawn-simulator back into the room.

2. Take Happy Pills every day. I am currently taking a daily multi-vitamin and Fish Oil, as well as a pretty low dose of sertraline.  Once the current bottle of fish oil runs out, I want to get a combo fish oil and Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is supposed to be very good for the winter blues.

3. Omit Caffeine. Yep, I’m trying to give up caffeine at the same time!  I’ll drink green tea for a couple of weeks and then move toward entirely caffeine-free by the end of the month.

4. BHAG: Guatemala Estate - get it done already

LIFE OVERHAUL 2014:

January: Create Time and Space

1. Out of Bed by 6:30am (start at 7am the first week)
2. Give up Caffeine - Drink Green Tea, and gradually go non-caffeine tea
3. Take Happy Pills Every Day
4. Project: Guatemala

February: Pause and Reflect

1. Mindfulness Meditation
2. Write Every Day
3. Project: Get a New Job 
4. Project: Salt Lake City

March: Get moving

1. Exercise every day
2. Walk with Sammie every day
3. No sugar for one month
4. Project w/Natalie: Financial Planning
5. Project: Start Seeds for the Garden:  http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/WI/Madison

April: Clarity

1. Make the Bed every morning
2. Daily Declutter
3. Project: Keep tending garden seedlings
4. Project: Plan Wedding

May: Relationships

1. Bike to work for one month 
2. Spend more time with Natalie, friends & family
3. Project: Patio & Garden

My first day of a writing habit.

This is from Blanche's wedding reception - 2013

Why do you want to develop a writing habit? Do you want to write a book, blog more consistently, be a better communicator? Knowing why you are working on a writing habit will help fuel you when you start to lose momentum. So determine this first thing on Day 1. Hey, why not spend some time writing about why you want to start a writing habit?

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What we write is what becomes our reality. What we write is what we have chosen to remember, to record as history. It is the story we create and that we tell ourselves that becomes true. What is true about our life is what we choose to remember.

To date, I have been very good at starting new projects, new adventures, at times taking on more than I can handle, because I have been very afraid to be alone with my thoughts. Pausing and reflecting has caused me a lot of grief in the past. I have told myself very sad stories, some of them true, and some of them ignoring the beauty that was also there. So, I’ve kept myself busy to keep myself away from the process of reflecting and creating the story I want.

Why am I writing now? For starters, I think it is necessary for my personal growth and mental health, that I take time to reflect. I want to write a personal journal in which I can learn from my mistakes and celebrate my successes, so that I can explore curiosities and express gratitude. I also realize that this is my story, and the only one I get to be 100% witness to, and it deserves someone’s attention, mine.

Second, I want to become a better communicator and at some point want to expand into writing on scientific interests of mine, as well as arts, culture, health, mindfulness, etc….all the things that I am curious about in the world around me.

Lastly, at some point I’d like to open up and share these writings with others. I recently wrote a piece on the grief experienced when I most recently hurt my knee playing roller derby. I received such a beautiful out-pouring of gratitude from other skaters, athletes, and non-athletes who identified with the article. I remember several years ago, a teammate of mine casually mentioning that she was going to see her therapist that afternoon. I remember being somewhat shocked, she was completely un-shameful about admitting to needing a therapist to help her deal with her mental health!  I had so much fear in talking about it to anyone. If she hadn’t had the courage to open up like that, it would have taken even longer for me to take charge of my own mental health.  So I want to write to share my experience with others because sometimes….it helps.