Sunday, January 03, 2016

Habits

One of the things I'll be focusing on the coming year is habits. I had some habits I'd been holding on to for too long and they weren't taking me in the direction I wanted to go. Some of them were time-hogs. I had a long talk with myself the last few days of 2015 and I said, "Self, you stop that crap! And start doing something that moves you along the path."  And I said, "Well OK. What would you suggest?" And so on.

But, when the conversation was over, I had three habits that I wanted to quit. Wasting time in the morning flipping through Facebook, and Flipboard. I want to read instead. I have several unread books on becoming a better writer and several on songwriting. 

Another habit was that I put off unpleasant chores until they became problematic. The idea is to put them at the top of the list and not move to things I enjoy until I get the unpleasant one off my list. 

The third was to stop making excuses for not exercising daily. I'd already started working on this one several months ago when we bought fitness trackers.  Already I feel stronger and have more vitality.

I may not accomplish all the goals I set for myself this year, but if I can replace these three bad habits with the good ones, it will make a huge difference in my life.

As speaking of the beach, here's another shot.

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:34 PM

    You can do it, Rick!! (I can't, but maybe you can.)

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  2. Wonderful commitments, and I know that thise same goals would help me immensely, as well.
    Lovely photograph of the surf. Sigh. That is one of my "happy" places. Beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. Typing on my iPhone, and I did not proofread before hitting "publish."
      My apologies for the typo.

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    2. I always say that if you want to do it, you will. It's all a matter of doing it. I love the beach picture.

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  3. Good luck on your goals. I have faith that you will be successful.

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  4. Rick, if there's anything I'm good at it's picking up habits. You've encouraged me to pick up some good ones.

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  5. Those are all great changes Rick.
    I quit Facebook several years ago and I don't regret it. There was life before Facebook and there's still life after Facebook.

    Ah, the famous Procrastination monster. That's a BIGGIE...
    Good luck.
    JB

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  6. We all have habits that become our own attitude-some are good and some are...not. I love what you have written here and hope, also, not to waste as much time...we shall see. I plan to walk more even when i am in bad pain even if it is around the block

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  7. Changing habits is difficult. I'm determined not to use the cold as an excuse not to walk outside this winter. I hate the treadmill nearly as much as I hate the cold.

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  8. Here's to accomplishing your goals in 2016!

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  9. Anonymous5:10 PM

    Good luck in replacing those bad habits with good habits!

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  10. Those are great goals, Rick. I wish you all the best in achieving them. What is Flipboard, or do I not want to know?

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  11. Wishing you well on your goals. It sounds very 'responsible adult' to me. I'm passing on consistent responsible adult this year but I'm open to occasionally revisiting the practice!

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  12. Hell yes I so get this I have to stop, no I would like to stop doing a few things that take up time and achieve nothing

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