BabyKitty channels maru
Because I’m an old lady going through some sort of mid-life/empty-nest thing, I’ve been reading and listening to a whole lot of personal development stuff this year. There has been quite a lot about developing habits and more specifically how they need to align with your values or you’re unlikely to stick with them.
And as is my default excessively cynical nature, I was all a bit eye-rolly and sneers-ish – blah, blah, blah – values.
Then this morning I read this post found via lifehacker1.
Precis: Incredibly focussed, disciplined dude decided to devote 5 minutes a day to re-learning French – and after 3 weeks had still done nothing at all. Upshot: “In my case, I value my family, my health and being in good shape. I value my career in a field that I have a lot of personal passion for. I also value having a good time with friends and travelling. And I intensely value Irish whiskey, probably too much. But learning French was basically something I told myself I should do. I didn’t go any deeper and really connect with who I am”.
Holy!Goodness! This blew. my. mind. And I finally got the habit/values thing. Who knew I was so slow?
It makes such sense. This was exactly what happened with my advanced manageressing course. I really only needed 30 minutes a day, I definitely had the time available, but I put it off and did nothing for two years. But I can happily jump out of bed at 5:30am and, more prosaically, I’m religious about flossing. It explains a lot about so many things I just haven’t managed to get traction on, and things that I have – and about many other people in my life too!
If I’m planning to do something because I think I should rather than actually wanting to, I’m unlikely to get anywhere.
With that in mind, I’m going to review that big list on the wall and see what I need to replace. I’m thinking at least #21: make something alcoholic, but there are probably others.
1 yes, lifehacker is mostly rubbish, but I continue to read for the occasional excellent tip like removing oily stains from clothing with dishwashing liquid / dish soap – such complete genius!