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I’d rather write than talk. Nobody interrupts! Posting monthly or less now--see below. |
My original purpose for this blog, which I started in August of 2019, was to see if I could maintain consistency, to discover what I want to write about, and to find my writing voice. In January, I started a "niche-less" blog at Wordpress.com where I've published weekly. -- Kit’s Kontemplations  . -- I'm preparing to start a Catholic blog on Wordpress.com where I'll post weekly, and another site to put the rest of my writing. I also want to spend more time reading other blogs and offering thoughtful comments, both here on WDC and elsewhere. At most, I will publish once a month at no set time in this blog starting in September of 2020. Thank you to those who have read and rated any posts on this blog. I really appreciate it. I did NOT want to write “about” me on this blog. I wanted to share my interests, discoveries and maybe a few useful insights. If anything I've written helps even one person, whether or not they respond to the post, then this blog has been successful. |
| After decades of being “outcome focused”, I’d come to a point in my life where the process is more important than “getting stuff done”. I started with goals where I had no control over the outcome and switched to goals which were about concrete things I could achieve regardless of other factors. Only in the past few years have I focused on a few key long-term goals. These direct my strategy and choices about where I will focus my efforts. In Atomic Habits, James Clear distinguishes between the goal or result and the process or system that moves you in the direction of your goals. Prevailing wisdom claims that the best way to achieve what we want in life—getting into better shape, building a successful business, relaxing more and worrying less, spending more time with friends and family—is to set specific, actionable goals. ... Eventually, I began to realize that my results had very little to do with the goals I set and nearly everything to do with the systems I followed. ... Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. After putting goals in their proper and most useful context, he expresses how important it is to attach your identity to the habit you want to build. Habits that benefit us have the reward at the end; unhelpful habits have the reward at the beginning. Playing video games provide immediate pleasure and no later reward or benefit. Doing your daily exercise has no immediate pleasure but provides a reward after repeating the action regularly over an extended period of time. James suggests getting some immediate pleasure from exercise by attaching it to an aspect of your identity: “You are a person who does not miss workouts”. When you do your workout, you are casting a vote for this growing identity. If you miss one scheduled workout, forgive yourself and make sure you don’t miss the next one. This works for breaking a bad habit, or at least reducing its frequency. Concerning weight management one identity statement could be either: “I am not a person who eats junk food” or “I am a person who eats 90% healthy foods”. When I eat carrots instead of cookies, I’m casting a vote for either or both of these identities. Your habits embody your identity. Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become. The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do. Habits are not about having something, they are about becoming someone. In his book, he describes the “atomic” habits we start with as being extremely small in terms of time and effort. One example he gave was of a morbidly obese man who went to the gym with the rule that he could only stay for 5 minutes for the first several weeks. The point wasn’t to exercise, it was to develop the habit of “showing up”. Even when you know you should start small, it’s easy to start too big. When you dream about making a change, excitement inevitably takes over and you end up trying to do too much too soon. The most effective way I know to counteract this tendency is to use the Two-Minute Rule, which states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.” You’ll find that nearly any habit can be scaled down into a two-minute version. ... The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. If I wanted to develop the habit of writing every day, I could start with writing 3 sentences every day in my bullet journal. There are already several days a week when I want to write a lot more than that. This is for the days that I don’t want to write at all. On those days, I could write 3 sentences about anything at all. On the other hand, if I wanted to develop the habit of practicing the piano every day, I normally would have put together a practice “routine” that would take at least 45 minutes to complete. Instead, I could choose one of the components of that routine. After the end of the second week, I would add one or two more pieces. It isn’t about how much I do, it’s about developing the habit of sitting at the piano, turning it on, putting on the earphones and putting my fingers on the keys. The “gateway habit” is doing that one piece of my routine. What you want is a “gateway habit” that naturally leads you down a more productive path. ... Your goal might be to run a marathon, but your gateway habit is to put on your running shoes. That’s how you follow the Two-Minute Rule. ... People often think it’s weird to get hyped about reading one page or meditating for one minute or making one sales call. But the point is not to do one thing. The point is to master the habit of showing up. The truth is, a habit must be established before it can be improved. If you can’t learn the basic skill of showing up, then you have little hope of mastering the finer details. Instead of trying to engineer a perfect habit from the start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis. You have to standardize before you can optimize. He gives more detailed strategies for developing beneficial habits and breaking those that sabotage us. Instead of relying on self-control to eliminate a habit, he suggests removing the cues. Don’t buy the junk food, remove the app from your phone or tablet. Make the habit as inconvenient as possible. When it comes to developing good habits, make it obvious, attractive and satisfying. Tying the habit to your identity is one way to make it satisfying. This doesn’t cover all of the gems in Atomic Habits. I highly recommend it. It was worth reading slowly and taking notes for further reflection. It validated my intuitive sense that goals were not what I needed, at least not in the way I was using them. There are some interview videos on YouTube where he explains how he gained the wisdom he shares. After watching them, I was more motivated to read the book. Atomic Habits-Amazon Use ATOMIC HABITS to Change Your LIFE! 10 Rules Summary of Atomic Habits by Sam Thomas Davies Interview with James Clear |
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Yes, I know some people do that but I'm a creative writer not a journalist. Poetry sells ... but it's a money-maker for only a few. I write A LOT. Almost 180 pieces since Spring equinox. My goal is 300-400 per year. One year I went over 1,000. I need to do more editing, polishing, sharing, submitting. Writer's block? Who has time for that? I don't.