Small Investments. Big Returns.

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”― James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

As we wrap up the holiday season and mark our almost two-year anniversary of “pandemic” living, pause, reflect and take care of yourself. Fill your well. Play. Read. Relax. Move your bones, every day. Lift your spirit, every day. Laugh, every day. Seek and find joy in ordinary days. It is in our daily commitments and activities we make progress, attain contentment. In daily rituals, we grow, transform and change.

Ditch the temporary excitement of New Year’s Resolutions that flounder and fade by February and start today and each day going forward starting three things and build upon them. Small investments in activities that keep you learning and growing, creating and contributing. Find what fits and continue. Discard what doesn’t fit after trying it for at least three days.

“All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.”― James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

When the pandemic started, I restarted the practice of Morning Pages and haven’t stopped since. Julia Cameron developed the practice of Morning Pages – writing three pages right away when waking. Whatever comes to mind, stream of consciousness without stopping, editing or critiquing – improv on a page, a blank slate. By the time you get to the third page, clarity, connections and patterns begin to emerge. Some days, nothing. Most days, something of value arises in the practice. It’s also the prompt that leads me to my second daily ritual of writing a post a day on my other blog Cast Light.

In the beginning of 2021, I committed to writing daily on Cast Light, without fail. Some days were a struggle and others the words fell on the page. Often not polished, at times random and certainly imperfect. But there’s power in what Seth Godin describes as “shipping the work”  - hitting publish and releasing it into the world. Some posts hit, others fell flat, but no matter what, always shipping the work to get better, to take action, to start and finish to prompt more starting. Also, hopefully adding a healthy dose of optimism, belonging and connection into the world.

My third daily commitment is 10-15 minutes of meditation using the Insight Timer app. Usually music, sometimes prayers or guided meditation. Simple. Accessible. Effective. There’s plenty of research that shows that meditation can sharpen attention, reduce stress, increase compassion, improve mental health and enhance relationships. It helps anchor me in gratitude, joy and optimism.

As I reflect on this year and begin planning for next year (as much as we can plan in year 3 of a pandemic), I am sticking with my current rituals while adding weekly and monthly ones as well. A few that I’ll start with include strength training three times a week, writing articles for Start3Things once a week and reading for longer periods at least four times per week. Three is enough and others can be added when these take root first. When we start new habits, we crowd out the habits that don’t serve us well.

Create your own three daily rituals, add some weekly and monthly activities to mix it up and stick with them. Don’t overthink or contemplate too long. And if/when you miss or fall away, start back up. We all trip, fall and miss the mark. It’s in the starting, in the small investments that we reap the big returns. What resonates will stick with action, repetition and practice.

Small investments. Big returns. Start. 3. Things. Repeat.

“The only choice we have is to begin. And the only place to begin is where we are. Simply begin. But begin.”― Seth Godin, The Practice: Shipping Creative Work

The Power of Habits, Rituals and Wandering

“Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.” – James Clear, Atomic Habits

January starts the annual rite of resolution-making. Get healthy, go to the gym, take up a new hobby, etc. We get fired up and go with a vengeance, fast, furious in full throttle mode. Enthusiasm and energy at an all-time high. By late January, we’re exhausted, start to dial back our trips to the gym, eat the bag of chips and our habits and intentions unravel one inaction at a time.

The month is young so there’s still time to get this year’s resolutions off your list next year. A few adjustments now can be the difference between success and disappointment.

1. Create daily rituals to focus your attention, intentions and energy to follow through with action. A few habits that have made a big difference are starting the morning slowly. As soon as I wake up, I make a cup of coffee and write in my journal using Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages technique. Writing three pages long hand, no editing, whatever comes to mind. This practice allows subconscious thoughts to rise to the surface before they get buried in the busyness of the day. It often is random and usually exposes the root of things that have been weighing on my mind, helps me solve a problem and releases new ideas. No rules, just free-flow writing allowing whatever comes to mind to land on paper. This writing is not meant to be shared with anyone. It’s a technique to unravel your thoughts, roadblocks and ideas. However, it often is the basis for articles on Cast-Light and Start3Things. Try it for one month without missing a day and I promise this habit will stick and be the foundation for other habits forming.

2. Julia Cameron’s other technique is the artists date where you go somewhere by yourself once a week to change up the scenery, discover patterns, create new connections, found in the action of wandering with no particular destination.

3. Meditation using the Insight Timer app grounds each day to focus effort and attention. Music, guided meditation for 10 minutes gets the day going in the right direction.

4. Before making resolutions, be clear on the reason why you want to lose weight. To play with your kids? To run a 5k in March? To have more energy? Specificity and emotional connection will both inspire and motivate you beyond the initial pain of building muscle and necessary repetition to make real change last.

5. Accountability – have a daily plan and check it off when you are done to create the cadence and record progress. Celebrate daily wins of repetition and discipline.

6. Give up the long undoable list of annual resolutions and roll them out through the year as you make progress and complete a few. Each accomplishment builds confidence and leads to the next success.

7. Be specific in your actions and break down big goals into small steps daily to get to the finish line, not in January but by March. Things that are meaningful and lasting, take time, consistent effort and small steps to sustainable results.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits notes that tiny changes transform into sustainable behavior. Repetition creates progress. Habits begin with a trigger to act so make it easy to follow through by using cues. If you are working out in the morning, put your work out clothes out the night before. Don’t over think it, just start before you talk yourself out of it. Don’t allow feelings to stop you from starting. Do it, especially if you don’t feel like it. Reward yourself when you complete the task. Tracking and celebrating will lead to success so when January, 2022 comes, the resolutions on your list are different than this year because you’ve accomplished them.

Happy New Year and New Day! Stick to it and always choose action over perfection. Start3Things!

“What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.” - Julia Cameron