36 Months

[Edit 1/29/2020: David Raptitude calls them experiments.]

It all started with a tweet while I ate my burrito in late April 2012.

So I gave this a shot in the summer of 2012 and got maybe 2 1/2 months before I let an insane work schedule + a really stressful house hunt/move totally derail me. Four days before I turn 40 I’m restarting. I’m going to try and use v1.0 as a learning step, not see it as a failure. I think the bulk of my first 12 habits are going to be health-focused.

02 / March 2013 / Regular daily schedule

I’m a notoriously bad morning person, but I suspect that with A on board, I’ve lost this fight and that I just have to change — to get him to school on time, to balance work and life. So the plan is this:

  • Wake up each day at 7:00 am — no more hitting snooze!
  • Leave for school/work at 8:00 am
  • Leave work promptly at 5:oo pm
  • Be in bed for 30 mins of reading at 10:30 pm
  • Lights off at 11 pm for 8 hours of sleep

I also think that being tired and late runs throughout the day and leads to wasting time. If I’m serious about wanting more time, one thing in my control is to cut out the stuff taht falls under the “wasting time” heading.

I already know this one is going to be a little harder as it will require being organized and disciplined. I started this weekend because I was getting sick (along with J and A) and will tell J that it’s my goal for this month. It will also be a little tricky with travelling for work and my radio shift (2 nights) but if I can do as well as I did with cutting out soda I’ll be doing really well.

I think I’m going to try some of Leo’s advice for getting up earlier — especially an adaptive form of meditation… maybe looking out the window while drinking a glass of water since we have such a lovely view of the backyard.

01 / February 2013 / Stop drinking Coke

Right back to square one. What I wrote in May 2012:

I actually started this 3 weeks before reading the post above — but unknowingly using the same logic of starting each habit small, building up. I started that challenge for 2 reasons: (1) To prove I could, to succeed and to exert my will over my life (as dumb as that sounds). I knew that if I could go through with drastically reducing, if not cutting out Coke altogether, long-term that it would make it easier to reach a different goal. (2) More importantly I was am tired of being overweight and my 3-4 cans of Coke a day seemed as central a culprit as anything else. I’ve not really reflected much on this 30-day challenge — a measly 3 posts — but I think that has a lot to do with a growth curve I’m on right now taking up a lot of mental energy and some time (while of course helping to liberate more time in the long-run!).

Coke is a huge culprit, a trigger and an all-too-familiar “out”. Kicking it again will be a reminder that I can do this — that I did this actually.

It’ll be a good reminder that progress is not all-or-nothing. In fact, I very seldom ever drink Coke at home anymore… it’s at lunch or traveling or to soothe.

Coda: Pretty good success! There was a single day (while travelling and eating drive-thru) that I broke down and drank a full 32 oz Coke. And 2 other days where I got 1/3 glasses as I left a restaurant. Leo’s advice (perhaps borrowed from someone else) to try not to slip up but to NEVER go back-to-back days was a great help in not getting down the 1 or 2 times I did backslide.

 

 

02-36 Months / TBA

This is a first draft of what the next several months’ habits will be:

  1. COMPLETED!
  2. <in progress>
  3. Flossing daily
  4. Drinking 8 x 8oz of water
  5. Cutting out chips and fries <or> eating more fruit & veggies
  6. Eating a high protein breakfast instead of high carb bagel
  7. Regular exercise (need to define better — walk for X mins a day? bike 3 times week? or just a regular schedule of exercise)

Some other habits on the horizon:

  • reading everyday
  • journalling
  • writing/connecting with friends
  • decluttering
  • digitizing files
  • quiet and alone time
  • unplugged weekends and evenings (no technology)
  • being positive and/or not complaining or gossiping
  • punctuality (being 5 mins early to everything (borrowed from Tynan)
  • planning work
  • setting goals & regularly evaluating them.