Breaking Bad (habits)

I finally started the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it even if you don’t have any bad habits you need to break or good habits you’d like to incorporate. Of course, if you have neither than you might not be human and that’s a whole different conversation and self-help book.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

I chose this book because I wanted to have a productive year. Not a busy year. A productive year. I can find ways to be busy all day long, but if there are no fruits to my labor, it’s wasted time. My goal is to produce at least two books this year. They might be first drafts, but the task of putting fingers to keyboard is daunting. One of the ways to create a daily good habit of writing is to make it easy to do and tie a reward to it. I’m making it easy by clearing my writing space on Sunday evenings so there is no impediment to sitting down and getting some words on the page. If I complete my word count for the day, I can watch an episode of a favorite British mystery or other guilty TV pleasure. I’m addicted to Around the World in 80 Days right now.

I’m listening to it on Audible while I wash dishes (another good habit I’m trying to incorporate.) I used to wait and wash dishes the following morning, but I realized it started every morning with a mess. Not a great way for anyone to start the day. Now, I make sure the kitchen is clean and the coffee ready to go before relaxing in the evening. The author narrates the book, and he does an excellent job. Honestly, a bad narrator makes me immediately stop listening even if I love the story.

My other big take away was strive to be 1% better every day. Day one. Show up. Day two. Write a sentence. Day three. Write a paragraph. The math isn’t there, but you get the idea. Now, I wake up and think “How can I be 1% better today?” What a great idea that can be applied to so many areas of your life. So I’ll ask you, how will you be 1% better today?

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