As I begin this journey and take you along in my routine, I had to establish what are some new habits I could adapt to that would help me reach my goals? I took out a habit tracker from my Daily Grind Planner and started to fill it out.
After reevaluating my day to day structure I was able to settle on 10 habits that I could check off throughout they day to see if they would make me feel happy and more accomplished. These habits were not hard to do or too demanding just simple tasks that I was already completing daily. I just needed to move some of them around throughout the day so I could complete each one without any excuse.
Identifying my habits.
In my first month I noticed the following;
- Being accountable to yourself is hard when you don’t try.
- I needed to change my frame of thinking about the word task vs habit.
- Waking up early is not that hard to do.
- I am a perfectionist and being able to see a little x in the done category makes me happy.
- If I checkoff tomorrow on my habit tracker, it’s ok. That means I will make more of an effort in completing it the next day.
- It’s ok to stack a habit with another one. You aren’t cheating, you are working smarter.
What I learned?
When I began this process, my habits changed weekly. I started to lump several tasks together to create a new habit. I learned how to stack my habits so I could check them off and complete them in 30 mins. or an hour. When you track your daily habits you have to think, I am doing this so I can reach my bigger goal. It all started to make more sense as I completed the first month of habit tracking.
What are some good habits to track?
Like I said, my habits changed weekly and sometimes daily as I started this journey. I started with easy ones first, then, started to stack them together to make my days run smoother. Here is a list of the habits I created, the why, and the reality of this entire process.
| The Habit | The Why | The Reality |
| Waking Up Early [6 AM] | My internal clock wakes me up at 6 AM every morning. | Getting up early was not hard to do but find things to do during this time that wouldn’t wake the entire house was challenging. |
| Clean House | A clean house makes me a happy person. I feel in control of my day with an organized and clean house. | I wasn’t trying to be the perfect wife, but when things are tidy in my home environment it makes me feel productive. |
| Planning My Day | Reviewing where I need to be during the day, upcoming bills that need to be paid, and what is going to be for breakfast, lunch and dinner that includes 30 grams of protein for each meal (recommended by my doctor) makes a difference. | As much planning one can do, you have to be ok with the fact that nothing ever goes as planned. The trick to making this work is adjusting your schedule. Tell yourself, it’s ok, I will finish it tomorrow. I did not fail, I might need to rethink my plan. |
| My Finances | To better understand my income and where my money is going. I make a 6 figure income. However, where is my money at the end of a pay period? Was it going towards my debt? Was I investing it properly? Am I overspending? Are me and my husband on the same page financially? I need to make this a high priority for myself and my family. | My finances are my responsibility and I’m never going to get out of debt. I needed to get this statement out of my head. I started listening to financial audiobooks. I created a conscious spending plan with my husband to align our goals, and I opened a high yield saving account. Not bad, eh? I was able to start this new journey in one month. |
| Family Connection | Connecting with loves ones can go along way for me. Being present in the moment shows you care and want to be around your family and friends. | It can be a phone call to my Mom or Sister to check in. Spending time with a close friend, or cuddling up with my husband and the doggies at the end of the day. As long as I get to connect with those that I love. |
| Reading | Listening to a new audiobook, to learn a new approach, skill, or just a new story. Feeding my brain helps me stay focused and accomplished. It gives me new things to bring up to my husband for after dinner conversations. It makes me want to try new things. | I have always wondered how do people have time to read books? Reading a book makes me sleepy. Then I rediscover the Audiobook. I’ve listened to so many books I never would have picked up before. Remember, stacking habits, like a nice walk and listening to a self-help book can work in your favor. |
| Physical Activity | Exercising gives you energy. It can clear your mind, and helps your overall wellbeing. | BS! I hate working out but I know I have to if I want to see the number of the scale go down. I make it a habit each day to slap my Fitbit on my wrist every morning and I track my steps. 10,000 steps = 5 miles! |
| Hydration | Though my weight loss journey making sure I get a good amount of water throughout my day helps with cravings and stops random eating when I am board. | This was harder than waking up at 6 AM. When you are on back to back calls, who has time to drink water? I had to rethink this one, I pulled out my 32 oz water bottle and made it habit to finish the 1st one by 10 AM. The 2nd by 2 PM and if I was being good, the 3rd by 10 PM. Making it a habit to consume 64 oz daily. |
| Creative Time | Schedule time in my day to focus on something creative. | This was hard at first, blocking out time to do something creative was easy. It was finding something to do to occupy my creative outlet. Then I found blogging and choir. |
| Cooking at Home | We will save money. I want to try new recipes and expand my cooking skills. I can control the amount of sugar I am consuming daily and make sure I get 30 grams of protein per meal. I love cooking with my husband. | I actually love to cook. My husband enjoys cooking from time to time and we experimented a lot with new recipes. The downside of cooking is. If we don’t eat it all, we end up wasting food because we don’t like leftovers. We had to look at how much we make vs what we know we will eat. We are still working on this one. |
That was a lot, I know. I wrote it all out and revised it for the last 2 hours.
Do I like habit tracking, do I think it works, and will I continue to do this daily?
- Yes, I do see the benefits of habit tracking.
- Yes, I feel accomplished as I checkoff a habit throughout my day.
- Yes, it works and it helps me reach my goals.
- Yes, I never would have thought I could do so much in 24 hours and manager to get 8 hours of sleep so I feel rested the next day.
It’s a process and anyone can do it. You need to want to change your habits if you want to see changes if your lifestyle.