Tri-Weekly Habit: Yoga and Words
Well, after one great day of exercise, writing, and flossing, I managed to drop the ball for the rest of week, and I realized that drastic action needed to be taken.
So back when I had a personal blog, I did about a year worth of taking on a two new habits (one practical, one artistic or meta) for 21 days. It was terribly successful and I managed to finish the rough draft of my novel, blog regularly, spend less money — right before my wedding no less — and lose a bunch of weight — again right before my wedding. Nice, right?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, weddings are the BEST excuse to get your entire life in order. And I’ve joked that I’d acheive total perfect-enoughiness if I had a big event like this to motivate me every year.
Well, guess what? A baby is a pretty awesome reason to get cracking on a list of good habits, so I’m bringing back 21 starting with exercise and working on my novel every day for at least 20 minutes a day each for the next 21 days.
Some good signs: I just cleared my 13th week, and my weekly baby-center email encouraged me to find a prenatal class during week 14. AND when I did some research on prenatal yoga, I found out that Silverlake Yoga, my favorite studio, has a prenatal class just about every weekday. And they encourage mothers-to-be to join after their 13th week.
Also, while I was driving to Santa Monica yesterday to hang out with two of my fellow Smithies, “Make it Rain” by Fat Joe and Lil’ Wayne came on the radio. “Make it Rain” happens to be the them song for the first section of my new novel, so I’m getting the feeling that the universe approves of my decision.
So if you’ve always been interested in the rule of 21, as in the theorem that it takes 21 days to create habit, check back with my new Tri-Weekly blogumn every week. We’ll cover topics like how to stay motivated, how to get your friends and/or SO on board with the new project, and how to pick two good habits that you can keep. After the jump, some practical tips for starting a 21-day cycle on Tuesday.
This week, think about this: I’ve found that the first three days are the second hardest in a 21-day cycle. The first day you’ve got enthusiasm on your side. The second day your enthusiasm starts to fade. And on the third day your demons almost always try to throw some obstacle in your way — a big project, a must-go party, a cold, and in the case of this year: Christmas. Seriously, they’ll do anything to push you off the path towards the beginning.
But try this demon-busting exercise: completely underestimate yourself. That is, assume that your enthusiasm will be no match for the demons and plan accordingly. Third days are fantastic ones for setting out your yoga clothes the night before hand, placing your computer along with a treat in whatever special place that you like to write, inviting a friend to exercise with you. Start preparing your first day, so that you don’t let yourself down on your third.
For this cycle, my third day happens to be Christmas. My yoga studio and gym will be closed. Also it’ll be raining, so I can’t walk. I’ll need to come up with a low impact workout that I can do at home, that doesn’t target my abs. Let me know if you have any suggestions in the comments, and we’ll talk about them next Monday.
Til then, I’m wishing you a week of good habit.
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