Day 34: The power of Habits

Little Gracie's molars are coming in. It made for a long day, full of tears and whining. (Her, not me. Ok, I might have whined a little). I've gotta be honest, I was grateful when 8:30pm rolled around. Although I was ready to crash, I walked to my main level and knew I couldn't go to bed without performing my nightly routine. And so it began.

I spent 15 minutes practicing piano then listened to a talk while cleaning one room at a time, right to left, top to bottom. I've done this every night for months, which is why it came easy tonight, despite the fact that I didn't want to do ANYTHING. It was a most peaceful way to end my day and exactly what I needed.

TODAY'S FOCUS: Although motivation is the beginning of change, habit is the vehicle that carries you through once motivation wears off. (and it always wears off).

Make a list of 3 or 4 habits you'd like to develop, then focus on one at a time, a month at a time. It takes about 26 days to replace a habit and 6 months of implementation to make it permanent, so choose your habits wisely. Charles C. Noble put it best when he said, "First we make our habits, then our habits make us." Sky's the limit, so choose your habits, be who you want to be and do what you want to do, because your habits are the very thing that compose your character.

QUOTE: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." -Aristotle