maintain the good habits I've marked as "done"

Go 30 days without burgers or fries. Well, I must admit I’ve had a few slips since I last reported on this. Not too many though and I’ve turned it back around before a full relapse. I’m going to start counting another 30 days to help me be more mindful and try to break this habit completely. Today will be day 3.

I first saw this goal on Colleen’s list many moons ago. I find that sometimes even when I manage to accomplish one of my goals to set a good habit, I manage to fall off again when my focus turns to something else. I’m hoping this goal will serve as a regular reminder to maintain my habit changes.

The first goal I will use this to follow up on is “Go 30 days without burgers or fries” as I’ve just completed that one.

A habit will stay a habit as long as you keep doing it; if you stop, it will be eroded…more and more each day.

I had no problems until recently, but then I had to move, and I had no time to even think about anything else. The moving is all done now, been done for some weeks, but I haven’t thought about my checked-off goals for so long that I forgot about them. I’m glad I came across this goal; it will be a good reminder.

• [new] Record my weight every day
• Be more visible at work
• Lights out and TV off by midnight
• Drink <= 1 cup of coffee a day
• Shower and get dressed as soon as I get up
• Improve my Spanish
• Read up on effective college teaching, in general and in my field

• Drink enough water
• Check my voicemail regularly
• Schedule daily goals that I can accomplish
• Record 5 things I’m grateful for every day
• Move for 15 minutes a day
• Don’t watch TV alone
• Check my RSS feeds and favorite websites only twice a day
• Set clear daily and weekly research goals

• Keep a journal
• Find and cooperatively cheer-bomb 43T newbies

• “Maintain my allergy shot schedule”
• “Take vitamins daily”
• “Eat more fruits & vegetables”
• “Drink more water”
• “Use scar-healing treatment consistently”

RE: “Take vitamins daily”

I recently kept track of my pill-taking over a six-week period; during that time (my best estimate would be that) I took at least 85% of my pills on time & 100% of my pills if pills taken late are counted. This is real progress—my new goal will be to maintain it! smile

RE: “Use scar-healing treatment consistently”

I decided not to use the treatment while traveling, in order to avoid any potential for skin sensitivity or discoloration. Once I’ve returned to my normal work-a-day routine, my goal will be to consistently apply treatment to my surgical scars until I’ve finished using the box I have on hand, at which point I will re-assess my progress.

• stop procrastinating
• go to bed earlier
• simplify my life
• spend at least 10 minutes every day cleaning, organizing or decluttering
• watch less TV
• be frugal
• make my bed every day (though it’s not that important for me)
• weekly reorganize my to-do list, before it gets completely unreadable
• Unsubscribe (or not subscribe to) from newsletters, mailing lists, etc that I don’t really read
• Keep being as vegetarian as possible
• Have dinner with my son every day
• Touch the Life of a Stranger in Need
• Keep a journal, but just as a problem-solving tool and emotional outlet
• take a break from 43things, once in a while
• Read non-work-related books again
• Change my avatar to match my mood
• Try new recipes (just not one each week), experiment in the kitchen!
• use self-hypnosis (and eventually learn more about it)
• Gather my some day/when I have more time and/or money goals here

RE: “Take vitamins daily”

It’s been five weeks since I kept track of my pill-taking by writing weekly entries; during that time (my best estimate would be that) I’ve taken at least 80% of my pills on time & a higher percentage if one counts pills taken late. So I’m going to keep going forward with this goal, but probably not write about it much, so long as I’m able to maintain my good habits. smile

RE: “Use scar-healing treatment consistently”

I am adding to this “maintenance list” my intention to consistently apply treatment to my surgerical scars until I’ve finished using the box I have on hand, at which point I will re-assess my progress on this goal.

Of fourteen occasions, I missed taking my pills twice (1/7); given the holiday travelling we were doing, this is not too surprising. wry grin

I expect to do better this week, now that we’re back home & in the routine again, so my goal this week is to aim for “perfection”—& to achieve at least “1/7” pill-taking. smile

Of fourteen occasions, I missed taking my pills just once, thus meeting my Week Four goal (1/14). This is real progress. smile

My goal for Week Five is to have “perfect” pill-taking—which is likely to be a bit harder than usual, given the holidays at the end of the week. But forewarned is forearmed, eh? grin

Wish me luck, friends! thanks