21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Day 3.. More on habits!

     Still talking about habits.... those things we do (or don't do) every day.  Some of them make us feel good... some don't.  My task today is to take a good look at my 'every day' and look for something SMALL that I can change that will have a big impact!  Because often that is the case...

My favorite line in today's reading is " Remember, moving in the right direction – even at a microscopic rate – is always faster than standing still."

Little changes add up to MAJOR improvements... for me, I like to think of a brick house....built little brick by little brick.

The author (Crystal Paine 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life ) speaks of choosing to clean up the kitchen before she goes to bed to make her morning start a little brighter.  A fantastic idea!  I already clean up well after dinner. BUT since I am the FIRST one in my house to actually go to sleep..... the kitchen is almost never like I left it :-)

Tidying up my work space is something that is daunting to me always...  maybe that.  And exercising, well we all know there are roadblocks there....  Today's reading also warns against burn-out..... you know, when you start all excited about something and then do so much that everything loses its appeal.... and then you are worse off than when you started..

Moving on to the quilt.... I have a busy day today and would not ordinarily come home this evening and quilt.  I THINK I avoid it in the evening because of lighting... but it's habit now so I don't actually remember.

*Tonight I will figure that out and hopefully SOLVE.  If I can do it, I will do some hand quilting.. if not, I will deliver to you a REASON, a project I CAN work on, and a plan to finish the quilt anyway. 

As to the second task, I stumbled and fumbled choosing a small action to implement for a week as yesterday's assignment and am a little confused as to what to do today.

The assignment appears to be about starting a new habit (but since I sort of started one yesterday and adding too much at one time seems to be counter to today's reading, I may misunderstand).

*I will read Days 2 & 3 again to determine my course of action, I will create a list of small habits (bricks for the life I want to build!) to work on.... and if I am to choose one, I will.

*And I will write (already DONE!) and clean my bathroom mirror!

******* Day 3 Recap

Started early but moving SLOWLY.  We have colds here - the kind that don't knock you out but DO leave you kind of miserable and whiney for a couple of weeks.  So I am grumpy :-(

I still need to re-read today's readings but I did decide on another habit that would make a HUGE difference in my life.

**15 minutes daily on the exercise bike.

For me, that would strengthen my troublesome knee.... it would assure that I put 15 minutes of regular exercise in my daily routine.... it is a recumbent bike so I can read or play games on my phone while I do it (also in front of the tv)... and I don't have to change clothes.  It is an exercise that bypasses most of my exercise objections and doesn't lend itself to rationalization (note my treadmill rationalization yesterday!).

The stronger knee will allow / encourage me to train more and be stronger with less pain.

The exercise habit will lead to more exercise.  The bike is an attachment to a total gym so maybe I will be encouraged to do a little more (later, much later... baby steps!)

The easy nature of the commitment will reduce my reluctance to engage.  I HOPE it's a win-win.  Certainly it won't be a LOSS.
Small commitment - HUGE impact.....

And .... (now that I am back home and have READ the readings again... is exactly the habit to choose today... small effort - BIG POSITIVE IMPACT... so I'm on board!