I struggle so much with practicing what I preach. I don’t even know how many times I’ve said that I need to do less and I need to start small. Too many to count. And I’m going to say it again! I need to cut back. Because when there’s so many things on my goals list, it’s hard to prioritize and devote quality time to anything.
This week Laura Vanderkam had a tip on her Before Breakfast podcast that three times per week is a habit. She’s shared this wisdom before on her various platforms. But I really needed to hear it now, and I’m going to implement it into my life.
Three is my favorite number, so this should be something I am easily open and drawn to. But I always get caught up on having to do things every day to be a success. I can start small though. Or even stay at three times per week for as long as I need to or want to.
Exercise
I recently shared my Project 180 outline HERE, and in that post I mentioned my ideal workout routine, part of which was walking a mile every day. Ideally yes, that’s what I want to do. But if I also want to fit in my physical therapy exercises and some strength training, I might not have time to do it all before I have to get ready for work. So I am going to start with 3x / week and if I do that, I’ll be happy. Even better would be 5x and best would be every day…
Additionally, I struggle to do my physical therapy that I really need to do to feel good in my body. Something about getting on the floor just puts up a block. So I’m thinking of minimizing the required actions to count this habit as done, and start small. I’m currently rereading The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi and she has this very example in her book— do one downward dog. That’s what I’m going to do. It’s normally the last part of my PT practice, but if I’m really resisting doing the whole thing, that is going to be my bare minimum. One down dog.
Journaling
I know I’ve talked about morning pages from time to time, and if I remember correctly, I most recently said I’m not going to do them regularly anymore. I do enjoy writing, and find some benefit to the practice, but I don’t always want to spend the time it takes. I feel rushed and my hand cramps when I try to write fast. This one I might not even do 3x per week or maybe instead of the prescribed three pages, I’ll just do one, and/or maybe I’ll do 1-2x/week instead (on the weekend).
But maybe I can something like gratitude journaling in the evenings more regularly. It is something I’d love to do every day, and I may still aim for that— but I’d be happy if I write something down 3x per week, as a reflection of the past couple days, for memory keeping, gratitude expression, a log of daily wins, etc. And it’s a great way to decompress after a long day.
Freelance/Blog
This is less of a habit, and more of a practice, but I may try to cut back on how frequently I work on freelance design business and blog stuff. For several months now, I’ve devoted 15 minutes of my morning routine each day to working on something blog or design related.
But if I want to fit more exercise in, or time for journaling (IF I decide to do it in the mornings), I might have to forgo a day or three. And honestly, that’s okay. I can fit it in at other times if I need to. And I have more time on the weekends that I can (and do) devote to work blocks too. Right now I’m working on an extra project that is taking more time, but if I’m in a season where another habit needs to take priority (my health right now), I’m good with letting this go a couple of days per week.
I like the idea of starting small, and I’m hoping that this time I can actually accept it as okay and put it into practice. I don’t want to keep failing at my attempts of incorporating healthy habits into my life. I don’t want to be paralyzed by the fear of not doing it every day meaning that I didn’t succeed or it doesn’t count. This time it’s gonna stick! I’ll check back in soon.
How often do you practice your habits?
