Categories vs. Habits
In my last post about the year of growth, I don’t think I was very clear about what this is, and what it isn’t.
This is a method of building daily habits.
This is not a general habit suggestion. It is very specific to what the person wants.
For instance, I listed “Health” as one of the options. What does that mean?
Both health and fitness go together. But health, to me, is drinking lots of water, avoiding too many carbs, intermittent fasting, and eating lots of protein and healthy fats.
So, for the habits listed, I could certainly put “Drink X Amount of Water”, but writing “Avoid Too Many Carbs” is too generic, and hard to track. The habit should be measureable and actionable.
Though I should avoid eating too many carbs, It’s more of a mindset than a habit. It’s something that is different everyday, and needs a different source of motivation to complete.
Now, if my goal is to implement intermittent fasting - then obviously that impacts my carb intake, and it is directly influenced. I can still follow my health rules by creating actionable habits.
The same goes for “Sprirtuality”. What does that mean? It means I’m reading my Bible everyday, meditating and praying every day, and praying with my family every day. Those are habits.
“Spirituality” is not a habit - though it is a catagory of habits that I want to implement.
So the more generic names are rough categories of habits I would like to implement - but the more specific I can make the habits, the more affective this experiement will be.
Definition Is Important
The better I can define this program, the more affective it will be. And, the better I can explain it to someone.
The next thing I need to think about is how quickly I want to generate new habits.
For instance, should it take me a whole month to start reading my Bible? Probably not. But, to build a proper exercise habit it might take a whole month.
I think the way I will handle this, is by increasing time chunks throughout the month. So when I am working on my morning routine, I will spend 5 minutes, then 10, then 15, then 20 on reading throughout the month. But, the time increases will be happening for all of the actions I want in my morning routine.
This will apply for things like meditation, prayer, reading, sleeping, etc.
An evening routine can be the same way.
Getting Closer to The Real Deal
I’ve got a lot going on currently. I’m married and have a child. I’m working on a kickstarter product. I’m working a full time job. And I’m trying to stay healthy, fit and motivated. There isn’t much time to mess around.
I’m hoping to implement this program with all of these things going on, both because it will help me and it will force me to grow in a non-ideal environment (which is better for growth). Meaning if I can do it now, then I will be able to stick to it in the future.