I just completed the first quarter of 2022 for the habits I’m creating. I lovingly call these my FP9 Habits based on my experience with habit creation in Jon Acuff’s “Full Potential Course” I took the last quarter of 2021.
Read more about my experience with the “Full Potential Course” here.
As a recap, here are my FP9 habits for quarter 1:
- Read 10 pages: Success book (non-fiction, inspirational, educational sort of books)
- Write 100 words: I’m using this as as daily journal kind of thing.
- Write 15 minutes: Blog (M-F)
- Study The Book of Mormon: I’m following a program that outlines how to finish this book of scripture in 1 year.
- Work out for 30 minutes (4 days/week)
- Eat 5 fruits/vegetables
- Drink 64 oz of water
- Eat 100g of protein
- Write in journal: This is a bit different than the “Write 100 words” habit.
So, how’s it going?
Very well, actually. I was 88/90 days for the quarter! 🎉 Once I got a streak going, I wanted to do anything I needed to do to keep that streak going. (I’m a bit competitive with myself sometimes). Some habits have been trickier to keep going than others, and those 2 days I missed? They were workout days, and they weren’t due to any excuses like, “I’m just not feeling it,” or from letting less important things get in the way. No. They were legit reasons.
- Missed day #1: I stayed at the ER all night with my in-laws when I was in Kentucky, which meant I was pretty much toast that day. But I was so grateful I was there to help! Then I drove home a whole other day that week. Then I got my COVID booster, and it threw me for a huge, not-feeling-great loop for a couple of days.
- Missed day #2: I was in Utah waiting for grandson #6 to arrive (this little cutie named Jake Steven), and I knew I was coming down with something, so I took things easy for a couple of days so I would be ready (not sick) and feeling good for whenever he decided to arrive. Then when he came later that week, things were just all sorts of new baby crazy, which is a fun kind of crazy to have! Grandsons are the best!
The reason I’m sharing these reasons for missing those 2 days of working out 4 days/week is that, first, this is the most consistent I’ve been in working out in months and months, so this was a huge win for me! I proved to myself that I could stick to a habit, even on those days I really didn’t want to work out. Second, since they were totally legit reasons to miss, I was okay with missing them. Which is kind of a huge step for this hopefully-recovering-perfectionist.😉 Things will happen in real life, even though we’d like to think this might not happen, that are more important than keeping a habit. Some weeks will be crazier than others, and as long as I’m doing my best, I’m doing amazing. Habit creation happens over time, and that’s what I’m after: Habit creation, not perfection.
And even if those reasons for missing a day weren’t legit? That’s totally okay too. The key, no matter what, is to get right back on that missed habit ASAP. The longer we wait, the harder it is to get going again. I’ve learned that the hard way. Over and over again.
So, which habits have I struggled with most?
Writing in my blog for 15 minutes, Monday-Friday
Why?
Some days I’m just not in the mood to write. But I want to keep my streak going, so I just begin. Once I begin, I usually really get into it, and before I know it, my timer has gone off. And this simple habit has allowed me to post a new blog post every Wednesday since December 31st. And this is something I’m pretty darn excited about!
Work out for 30 minutes, 4 days/week
This was, by far, the #1 hardest one. Why?
As an empty nester + freelancer, I pretty much have control over how I organize my days for the most part, so this one is pretty easy since I can plan my days and the best time to work out each day. That’s one great benefit of being a solopreneur. 😉 But, when I’m not home and/or I’m out of my usual routine for whatever reason, it does take more brainpower and vigilance to plan my 30 minutes of moving each day.
Here’s what I’ve learned with this habit: If I waited for an entire 30 minute block of time to work out—the “ideal,” I probably would’ve gotten in 0 minutes of movement on several days, especially those days when I was out of my at-home routine AND out of town. And while some of the workouts I did weren’t “ideal” for getting fitter and healthier, something is always better than nothing. And it keeps that habit growing, which is what I’m aiming for. While some days weren’t “ideal,” these are my habits, after all, so I’m 100% in control. I get to decide what “counts,” especially on the “far from ideal” days, and that’s powerful!
I believe you can waste your life waiting for the “ideal.” And usually, the “ideal” is hard to come by or it happens infrequently. Way more infrequently than we’d like to think.
Sidenote: I learned some valuable things about getting my work outs in when life happens, and I’ll be sharing what I learned next week since that’s a whole blog post!
So far, I’m really happy with my progress, and I’m going to continue these same habits for quarter 2. Maybe there will be some changes and tweaks for quarter 3…We shall see.
What habits are you working on? What are your go-to tips for sticking to your habits when life happens and throws you a curve ball? Because how you react to those curve balls is the true test of how deeply a habit has been formed.
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