Commitments and habits

First, I want to thank my dear friend for poking me the other day and reminding me it had been a LONG time since I posted. I expected to be writing posts way more often, daily was my plan, remember this blog was called, My Daily Journey.... Well "daily" is not going to work for me, obviously. And when things aren't fun I typically bail.  

I have what I jokingly call Shiny Ball Syndrome. I get a great idea, find or learn something new and I get very excited.  Then after a while I often loose interest in that said topic or at least loose passion for it.  I used to think this was a bad thing, but what I realized recently is that I have a drive, a need to be fulfilled and when I do something for a while and it can't sustain me, I move on AND THAT IS OK.  I know when it is wrong and I leave, why stay if I am not happy and have no reason to stay. However, those damn limiting beliefs of the past, can and do sneak in and the other day I found myself really starting to worry if I would ever stick with anything long term. (ahh damn worry, sneaking in, YOU ARE JUST AN ILLUSION, GO AWAY)

I decided to think about all the thing I have "stuck  with". I have been with my husband for almost 17 years and I plan to stay indefinitely.  The healing path I am on is a keeper as well. There is no way I can back to my old though patterns and habits, I know too much to go back. The way we eat, I will never go back to fast food, top ramen, grain fed beef and pesticides, it just won't happen.  Essential Oils and other natural health options are here to stay, going back to OTC meds, no way, not now that I know the power of EO's, not gonna happen. There are things that I keep in my life, so what makes those thing different?  I had to remind myself.

I have grown because of these things. Each one helped me to move into the place that I wanted to be.  Also, they are things that continue to sustain me and interest me and keep me moving in a positive direction.  There is more to learn about them all, so they are never-ending as far as interest and knowledge, I can keep learning about them.  

I really want to continue this blog on a regular basis and since it fits some of the above "keeper" criteria, I guess I need to make this into a habit.  In fact, I can think of several other good habits that I desperately want to start, like taking vitamins consistently. So how do I start a new habit?

I found this great article called The 3 R's of Habit Change: How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick by James Clear.

The 3 R's are:

1. Reminder (the trigger that initiates the behavior)
2. Routine (the behavior itself; the action you take)
3. Reward (the benefit you gain from doing the behavior)

My challenge for myself, start 1 new habit this month, blogging regularly.  How often is regular? Well folks, I am not sure.  I have done some research and it turns out there is no right answer, only the answer that works best for me. While daily would be great, but I can not sustain that, it feels stressful and not fun and I like fun. So for now I am going to start with weekly posts. I am just not sure which day of the week will work best, so bare with me. I will start with Friday's, due to my schedule, these days are the most consistant, if they aren't working, I will readjust. Making this easy and fun is key and following my 3 R's

1. Reminder - Friday, day to catch up at home, don't pick up kids, my day
2. Routine  - Write blog post
3. Reward - I will feel great knowing that I stayed committed to something that is important to me. I will bask in that feeling for at least 1 minute!

I will definitely be adding this into my morning meditation as well as using doTERRA's Motivate Encouraging Blend if I feel any resistance to writing on Fridays.  

Here we go....  See you Friday!