Hey Y’all! It’s Day 2 of Camp NaNoAWriMo and I’m having one of those days. A Chronic Pain, I’m hurting all over, but my left shoulder, usually it’s the right shoulder, and my left elbow (tennis elbow). I have an appointment with the Orthopedic Doctor tomorrow, which I’m hoping will be informative and all me some relief. So I am having a bed day, orders from Mr. Rockstar Taylor. I have a video to upload to Patreon, two videos to edit for YouTube, as well as a rather long To Do list, but it will have to wait.

I’m typing this on my iPad because it’s charged and easy to use, where as the MacBook Pro has like 7% battery, and the iMac is in the Studio (not attached to the house). I’m hoping I’ll be back to work tomorrow morning and that I’ll be able to get back to work after the appointment with the Doctor.

I’ve been working on changing habits, from everyday habits to routines and rituals, to improve and better my life. Healthier habits. Building healthier habits, letting go of bad and/or poor habits. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight, in fact, I’ve been working on this for years now. Not necessarily the same habits, but each year a different set of habits. Since we evolve, change and grow as we make improvements, I’ve realized that perhaps some things could be let go of that I hadn’t even realize were poor habits.

What are habits? Habits are automatic behaviors we do repeatedly on a regular basis. They’re formed gradually and become second nature; they’re formed gradually and become second nature—autopilot (we perform them without really thinking. Some habits are more subconscious, like checking our phones at dinner without realizing it (though I think this is rude, some do not, so we won’t debate that issue here). According to researchers from Duke University in North Carolina, habits actually account for around 45% of our everyday behaviors.

A big portion of our life consists of ingrained habits and those impact life, but how much is unknown. Changing them can be hard but not impossible. The best way to change the ingrained habits we’re not sure even exist in the first place, at least how we formed the habit is to first think abut how habits are formed to begin with. Our behaviors (like habits that are acquired) are usually shaped by observations and imitation. Our environment and the people with whom we grow up can predispose us to certain kinds of behaviors.

One of the big things I’ve been working on is creating better morning and even routines. For example, one of the first things I do when I first wake up is stretch. I have to stretch before I can move fully. Next, I drink a bottle of water, then I brush my teeth. I’m not rewarded by fresh breath, clean teach, and the knowledge that I’m one step closer to keeping my teeth when I’m old(er). In order to build new routines you need sustained consistency and motivation, as well as persistence.

Slow and steady. Small steps, many small steps. One of the big things I’ve been working on in order to change and improve my habits is to be mindful and aware of each choose I make. Drink a glass of water or Dr. Pepper? A salad or French fries? Take a walk outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine, or continue working—sitting and sitting for hours and hours—seems like an easy choice but sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I’m doing I forget to eat, forge the time… so now I have an alarm (that’s easy on the ears) to signal it’s time for me to get up and walk. My Apple Watch used to do this for me but I went back to having a Fitbit so I had to set an alarm on my phone. I made sure to do it within 24 hours of switching from the Apple Watch to a FitBit Versa 2. Small steps, literally.

Okay, I’m signing out, I’ll be back tomorrow. Hope you have a good one.