Old habits....

...die hard, don't they?
Over the last 7 weeks I've struggled to establish some habits in my life.
Habits I hoped to make a permanent part of my day (in no particular order of importance)...
~ Sleep in
~ Exercise Daily
~ Drink more water
~ Organize my home and office
~ Journal Daily
~ Read
~ Establish a regular bedtime
Great goals, right? The progress report follows.....
~  I still wake up at 4:09am EVERY day.
~ If you count teaching class, then yes.
~ YES! I've learned that I can avoid my coffee cravings by drinking warm water throughout the day. I'm actually enjoying this (but I still have a daily glass of wine)
~ Fail.... I've rearranged my schedule so I have office hours and still struggle to keep up with paperwork. I find it's created time for cleaning and MORE meetings, but has had little impact on my organization.
~ Blogging was my tool initially and I thought it was going well. But then I allowed myself to worry about being "good enough" to publish it daily. I missed one day, then 2 and then another and it seemed that the late night "mind-writing" disappeared. I tried to keep a journal at home where I could get things down on paper first..... that lasted about 3 minutes until I fell asleep with a pen in my hand
~ Occasionally. I'm a power reader. If I open the book today, I'll finish by tomorrow, which doesn't lend itself to sleep or enjoyment most of the time.
~ Bedtime is better, but as with everything else, if something better comes along, my schedule doesn't matter.

So as I laid in bed, wide awake at 4:09 this morning, contemplating life, I was thinking about the habits I have successfully walked away from.....

I quit smoking in March, 2007. I started smoking when I was young. STUPID! I quit a couple dozen times over the 20 years that I smoked, twice for over 2 years (once for each baby). But, it wasn't until I was faced with a 9 hour plane ride with 20 of my son's classmates, that I decided I was done for good. Commit lozenges, a good case of jet lag and fear of discovery was all it took for me to give it up for good.

I've quit eating processed foods. My shopping cart used to be full of "just add water and a half a stick of butter" products. Creamy, tasty and easy, right? Fortified with essential vitamins and minerals, right? Good for my family, right? Even after I started down my weight loss path, I'd buy an occasional box or bag to make dinner easier. Not any more...if it gets sauced or spiced in my house, it comes from the fridge or corner spice rack. And convenient means reheating something that was cooked the day before.

I have successfully broken habits that are bad for me, so why can't I permanently create habits that are good for me? Obviously it falls into the all or nothing category. I have discovered that when it comes to permanent change I have to do more than just want it and plan it, I have to DO IT (Like the water thing).
So, instead of trying to revamp my entire life and reaching this point of re-evaluation every 9 weeks, I'm going to focus on the most important ones today and tomorrow and the next day until they become who I am again......
~ Exercise. I will move every day, in some way, starting today. 10,000 steps is the minimum but certainly not the ideal and sweat is required for it to be called exercise!!
~ Journal. When I take the time to write down my food and my thoughts, I am infinitely more successful. I will be writing here every day for a while. You'll get my food, my exercise and my thoughts all in the same place. Accountability, right?

As soon as these two fit into my life, I'll go back and get some more.....