Things have been pretty heavy 😢lately- and they should be. There’s some critical work to do in this 🌎world with race relations and living through the pandemic. The quote on the picture fits those more serious situations, but I’m going to lighten things up a bit. Let’s talk about creating new habits this week.✅
My husband loves to watch videos. He has an enormous range of topics he enjoys- silly 🐶dogs, cooking, music performances, building, car🚗 detailing, anything related to 🏃running. He has the patience to watch the entire video, too. I tend to watch enough to get the point and quickly become 😬disinterested. My attention span is clearly shorter than his. Whenever he says that he has a video for me to watch, my first question is, “How long is it?”⏳
During our quarantine 🔒lockdown, Ken came across a video of a fitness challenge of 100 squats a day for 2-weeks. He felt like this was a video that I would actually watch as well as a challenge I might like to try. Not bragging, but I have been pretty proud of myself☺ since the beginning of this whole quarantine thing with regards to my workout routine. I haven’t missed one single day of exercise since the lockdown started back in mid-March. 💪Not one! Partly- because it feels good to do something active. The other factor to my strict regimen is to avoid what we call at our house “the COVID-19” as in pounds (kind of like the Freshman 15). In addition to watching videos, Ken also likes to cook and bake. With all of that time at home, there was no shortage of delicious things to eat- muffins, 🍪cookies, 🍝pasta, and any other recipe he could find in a video! Workouts kept me sane and generally the same size that I was before we locked down- even with a kitchen stocked full of homemade🍰 treats.
So, 100 squats a day? Ken was right- this was a challenge that I could get behind. I watched the full video and started my 2-week experiment that next day. Truth be told, I was already doing about 50 squats a day. I figured that it wouldn’t be a big deal to add another 50. According to the video, they didn’t have to be done all at once. I devised ways to fit them into my different workouts.💥
I like challenges that I know upfront that I can do. That should tell you something about my level of risk-taking!😂I enjoyed this challenge so much that I did more than 100 most days- 110 or 120 were more common than straight 100. That wasn’t because I was trying to prove anything. I lost count a couple of days, so I added more squats for good measure. There were other days that I was just feeling great and chose to add more to the routine.
This challenge reminded me of a podcast interview with a guy named BJ Fogg. Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman is one of my favorite 🎧podcasts. Interesting guests. Smart topics. Charming banter. Authentic hosts. If you’re looking for a new one, give it a try. 😀If you are offended by colorful language from time to time, listen at your own risk.😉
Anyway, I had never heard of BJ Fogg before listening to this episode in early March. The guy is a Stanford behavior scientist with a 📗book called TINY HABITS- THE SMALL CHANGES THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING. He also has a website and a Twitter following. You can listen to the Armchair Expert interview HERE!
I had no clue about tiny habits or what it meant to build them into my daily life. I’m scaling it way down when I say that it’s all about changing behaviors- getting rid of negative ones as well as adding positives.🌟 The premise is pretty simple- choose where to build changes in to our lives by finding places that they will easily fit. If changes work seamlessly into an already successful routine, habits can be made.✅ The ones that don’t stick are the changes that are too cumbersome or interrupt the natural flow of our lives. Fitting those 100 squats into my daily exercise was easy because I added them where they made sense.💯
I finished my successful mission of 100 squats a day for two weeks. I didn’t stop after that challenge ended, though. Doing 100 squats a day is now a tiny habit in my life. My legs feel stronger. 🎉I’m pleased with my efforts and fitness level. 🎉I enjoy coming up with variations on the squats- doing them while holding light weights is my favorite version.🎉 I’m actually glad Ken shared that video with me. I could do without all of the silly🐶 dog videos, though.
What about you? What’s a tiny habit that you’d like to build into your life? Maybe it is📝 journaling or reading more. How about fitting in those 👟daily steps? Or staying 💧hydrated? Or giving more😍 compliments? Flossing? Eating something healthy for breakfast? I know a good one- wearing your 😷mask? And- handwashing for at least 20 seconds!🙌
What if…you create a new habit? Find the perfect place to add a tiny change into your life and watch your transformation begin.🌟 We all have to start somewhere, right? Why not start small?💖Remember- nothing changes if nothing changes.
sharing the stairs 