|
Post by peacemama on Jan 14, 2023 9:25:39 GMT -5
I still need to finish the readings for Week 2. Sorry for the pause on facilitating the discussion. Hope the delay offers catch-up time for those who may also need it and allows an opportunity to plan/implement some of Clear's recommendations.
|
|
|
Post by momcpa on Jan 14, 2023 21:15:48 GMT -5
Just joining in here. I recently borrowed the book 'Atomic Habits' from our library and about the same time saw that it was the book that was going to be discussed here. I only read a couple chapters, but I'm returning the book to the library and am purchasing my own copy. That way I can high-light, underline, and add notations where I want. After reading thru the comments that have been posted here, I'm interested in following along and/or adding my own thoughts and comments.
|
|
|
Post by ermabom on Jan 16, 2023 10:21:14 GMT -5
peacemama, the surgery went well. I am able to clearly see the tiny font on this page as I type vs having to zoom in to look at things underlined in red! It is only a week out from the second surgery so my vision will continue to change for a few more weeks. I love not having to wear glasses at home. I just need them for driving because I got my eyes corrected for near-vision. I spend most of my life doing things in that visual range.
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 16, 2023 10:32:27 GMT -5
moosishun, Been thinking about you. How are you feeling? Are you on the mend from your nasty bout of COVID? Sending healthy, healing wishes your way.
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 16, 2023 10:33:58 GMT -5
After my prolonged pause from facilitating the discussion, here’s the revised reading/discussion schedule to get us back on pace for the month:
Monday, January 16: the remaining chapters of The 1st Law (Make It Obvious) Tuesday, January 17: The 2nd Law (Make It Attractive) Thursday, January 19: The 3rd Law (Make It Easy) Monday, January 23: The 4th Law (Make It Satisfying) Thursday, January 26: Advanced Tactics (How to Go From Being Merely Good to Being Truly Great)
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 16, 2023 10:35:49 GMT -5
Stop thinking about your environment as filled with objects. Start thinking about it as filled with relationships. Think in terms of how you interact with the spaces around you. p. 87
Remove a single cue and the entire habit often fades away. p. 95 January 16: Chapter 6 – Motivation is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More, Chapter 7 – The Secret to Self-ControlWhat steps can you take to design your environment for success?
Are there any obvious habits you want to make invisible? If so, how can you reduce your exposure and/or remove cues from your environment? A few additional resources that may be of interest to you: Printable version of Clear’s habits cheat sheet: s3.amazonaws.com/jamesclear/Atomic+Habits/Habits+Cheat+Sheet.pdf3-2-1 Newsletter: The New Year, second chances, and a simple way to start striving toward your dreams jamesclear.com/3-2-1/december-29-2022
|
|
|
Post by bernelli on Jan 16, 2023 11:20:10 GMT -5
One thing that I'm eternally grateful for is that DH doesn't like sweets. He won't even eat them if they are tied to his neck with a feedbag. He just doesn't like them. My alien husband makes it really easy for us to not have tempting food in the house.
Regarding the additional little exercise things I'm doing -- I've got a cleared off section of our workout room where I can just go and do stuff. It's all in the room with the treadmill... and so it's easy to just get to it. I do have to go down to the basement (this used to be an excuse!) but I'm working to overcome that "enormous obstacle". haha
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2023 11:24:15 GMT -5
Environment:
Why don’t I stop buying the damn snacks? I mean, sheesh. Bet I buy them this week, too. LOL
I have some writing I need to do, so I did pull out the boxes of research and put them “in sight”. That inspired me to print out the document. And, on Saturday, I went to the used book store and spent an hour in Texas history. Found an excellent source book for $10 that will confirm some of my research. I spent an hour in the cookbook section, too. I did not buy any cookbooks. I consider all of that a success.
I used the method of “dressing in exercise clothes” on Saturday. My schedule didn’t allow me to walk first thing. So, I put on exercise cloths, did what I needed to do in the house and then thought, “well Im all dressed, I’ll go now” .
|
|
|
Post by moosishun on Jan 16, 2023 11:44:07 GMT -5
HI, all!
I am better but now catching up to all that ran fallow (my sister's favorite word these days). I am about ready to get back to the book! Ha! Such a procrastinator, that is me, especially when something is really good for me.
The story of my life: "Eat those vegetables, young lady."
|
|
|
Post by ermabom on Jan 16, 2023 18:34:45 GMT -5
Glad to see both of you back.
One thing I’ve discovered is that I have to avoid doing certain things during my night-time routine. I can’t come down and sit in the family room and watch TV. That is a clear cue to start snacking. It doesn’t happen earlier in the day so I’m reworking my routine to avoid coming down.
Unfortunately both my SO and dad keep snacks in the house. I’m good with portions during the day. It is just at night that I have issues.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2023 10:05:31 GMT -5
Am I right? We’re discussing obvious,attractive and easy right now? Is anybody else in here?
These made sense to me and I think I have been successful at targeting them.
Water intake Habit: Obvious - keep a full bottle, always by my side. Attractive, I like plain water and take some meds that are dehydrating, so it’s already attractive.I’m frequently thirsty. Easy if it’s readily available.
Research Habit: Obvious - I stated earlier that I set it all out where I pass by it numerous times a day. Attractive - I love the end result of “discovering” valid information, not already known to my audience. Easy - I foot note everything, print my source material if from the i-net and file in a binder in the order I cited it.
Daily exercise Habit - Obvious - Set out exercise clothes the night before. Attractive - Make it a combo with a phone call to a freind or an audio book. I have a C25K app that has zombies chase me while I’m building back up to a run. (I quit running during Covid - at my age I worried about a fall and a necessary hospital visit.) Easy - I have great trails, parks and streets in my neighborhood so I don’t have to travel to get in a training session or walk.
Eliminating snacks Habit - EH, who am I kidding?
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 20, 2023 11:50:19 GMT -5
Regarding environmental cues. This month I've focused on establishing the habit of drinking herbal tea before heading to bed. I realized that I needed an after dinner routine to make the habit more visible, so I started to place the mug with the tea bag already in it on the kitchen counter. On evenings when I did this, I drank a nice relaxing mug of tea 100% of the time. On days when I didn't prep it, I was more-likely-than-not to skip making it.
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 20, 2023 12:21:46 GMT -5
Here's the post I intended for Tuesday.
You are losing nothing and you are making marvelous positive gains not only in health, energy, and money but also in confidence, self-respect, freedom, and most important of all, in the length and quality of your future life. p. 126
January 20: The Second Law - Make It Attractive (Ch 8 How to Make a Habit Irresistible, Ch 9 The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits, Ch 10 How to Fix the Causes of Your Bad Habits)
As I I've been reading Atomic Habits, I've been focused on what small actions I can take that align with my values, goals, and intentions. What are those parts of my daily routine that can be adjusted to make them more attractive?
TV time is top of the list. I try to limit my TV viewing to times when I'm on the treadmill/bike or am watching a show right before bed with DH that we enjoy together. That’s 2-3 hours of TV a day – plenty.
Workouts in our rec room become attractive when coupled with watching yet another episode or two of my latest series.
Quiet, downtime with DH, while we share watching a show together is definitely a nice way to relax and connect in the evenings.
One simple action I take each day to make the family room TV invisible is to close the TV cabinet doors and tuck the remote inside.
ETA To make the nighttime tea drinking attractive, I use a Tea Forte Kati steeping mug, tea tongs, and splurge-worthy teas.
|
|
|
Post by ermabom on Jan 20, 2023 16:56:14 GMT -5
I have been focusing on changing my night-time snacking to either eliminate it by not coming downstairs at all, or staying in a different room downstairs. However, I’ve also added another change - taking a serving and eating it slowly rather than having more available close by. I’ve been cudgeling my brain trying to think of a way to make this attractive and I haven’t found a way. I make it obvious by keeping a cup on the counter in which I can take a serving.
|
|
|
Post by bernelli on Jan 23, 2023 11:31:14 GMT -5
My goal this year is to get tone...so I'm trying to add to my workout "process" the extra exercises after my treadmill walks.
I am really looking forward to the weather warming up and being able to walk at the lake again... and I realized that it won't be so easy/convenient of a process to come home from that and then do the exercises.... I'm glad I realized that now so that I can come up with some strategy (PROCESS) for keeping the toning going when the weather gets warm. This is still a work in progress.
also -- I measure and weigh in a week on 2/1... fingers are crossed.
|
|
|
Post by fitin14 on Jan 23, 2023 13:11:37 GMT -5
started a new exercise routine with DH today. making it attractive...something we can do together. Obvious.... we keep the laptop on the table where we will both sit / stand to do them.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2023 14:41:08 GMT -5
Satisfying: I’ve never been one to reward myself with treats, clothing or whatever. I can’t say why. Maybe because as soon as I get a reward, I start feeling like the goal is reached. And it never is because there is always maintenance. So, for satisfaction, I’d rather focus on the benefit of where I am, at that point, in the process.
So, for exercise, I track improvement. Further, faster, etc… For my research goals, I pass along tidbits to the owner of the property and enjoy their reaction as to who owned their property before the civil war, etc. Reduction in snacks, I watch the scales register less weight.
|
|
|
Post by ermabom on Jan 23, 2023 16:59:46 GMT -5
In analyzing my problems with night-time snacking habits, I realized that the habit itself was attractive. I watch something I like. No one is around to ask me to do something else. I’m a night owl and prefer staying up at night to going to bed. I’ve tried the make it easy, attractive and satisfying w.r.t. to my new night-time routine - the one I’d like to do - and it isn’t working. It is more pleasant to hang out by myself, watching stuff on TV and snacking.
So I have to find a way to make it unattractive in some way. I will have to think some more about how to do this.
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 24, 2023 9:55:12 GMT -5
Bit behind here. I just wrapped up the 3rd Law. I'm definitely not feeling in my finest facilitator mode for this discussion. Clear's point about motion vs action really spoke to me.
Glad to see the discussion moving on. I'm enjoying your updates and thoughts about highlights from the book that really resonated with you.
You’re taking the smallest action that confirms the type of person you want to be. p. 165
January 24: The 3rd Law – Make It Easy (Ch 11 Walk Slowly, but Never Backward, Ch 12 The Law of Least Effort, Ch 13 How to Stop Procrastination by Using the Two-Minute Rule, Ch 14 How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible)
A few of my Two-Minute Rule habits:
Finance -Track receipts immediately when I return home and then scan them with Fetch app before recycling -Log online purchases immediately in my monthly expense tracker
Health & Wellness -After I take Saturday’s vitamins, refill the vitamin container for the week ahead and set it on the counter -Refill my water container throughout the day right after I take the last sip from it -Set out my selected AM/PM tea bags, along with the mug and tongs, before I close the kitchen for the night -Record my 24 hour meal plan in my No BS journal after taking the dog out in the morning
Guided Reflection -Complete Silk+Sonder app daily journal prompt when I first grab my phone in the morning -Scan vision board each Sunday evening before planning the week ahead -Click on the Breathe icon on my apple watch face for 1 minute of breath work or mindfulness
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 24, 2023 10:38:59 GMT -5
"Make it so easy that you can't say no" The Two Minute Rule Will Quickly Change Your Life: youtu.be/HM7dgEF8H60 (Worth the 1 minute 17 second watch)
|
|
|
Post by honeybzzzs on Jan 24, 2023 11:33:03 GMT -5
ermabomYour remark about the benefits of snacking at night reminded me of this. Years and years and Years ago I was at a seminar and the speaker was talking about managing people and rewards vs punishment. She had an employee that was late for work fairly often. Implementing a reward system she offered him an extra $50 for every day he got to work on time. His behavior didn’t change. He was still late for work often. She talked to him again and was told that he had morning sex with his girl friend. And sex was the greater reward. You have to make the reward more enchanting than the behavior that needs to be reshaped. This was a dog grooming seminar and behavior modification was just really coming to the forefront. The book “Don’t Shoot the Dog” was popular and was being implemented in offices too. Her talk included why reward systems don’t always work with training dogs. If running away from the owner is more fun then getting a piece of cheese and walking on a leash, the dog will choose running away. Recently, with my own employee. She gets paid by the hour. Normally works a 7 hour day. She was complaining about the increase prices of food/gas/etc. I told her “If you want to stay that extra hour and close the shop, that will amount to an extra $500 a month in your paycheck” I didn’t even finish my sentence before she cut me off with a big NO!!! It was more rewarding to get home, relax, be with her son and complain about the ‘tea in China’ than it was to earn more money. (We have a physically demanding job…I don’t blame her for wanting to go home. Even though that extra hour would have been basically sitting and minor cleaning) All this to say that just removing or adding an element won’t necessarily make or break a habit.
|
|
|
Post by peacemama on Jan 24, 2023 11:46:04 GMT -5
fitin14 , If you interested in chair/beginner workouts, you might enjoy Senior Shape Fitness:
|
|
|
Post by ermabom on Jan 24, 2023 13:26:40 GMT -5
ermabom Your remark about the benefits of snacking at night reminded me of this. ….. All this to say that just removing or adding an element won’t necessarily make or break a habit. Yes, that analysis made me realize that making it easy or attractive to stop doing it isn’t going to work. I have to find ways to either make it unattractive or find something that I find equally or more attractive. On nights when I’m tired, there is no problem. I read a little and go to sleep. But there are many nights when I can go to bed at the usual time and lay there for an hour without sleeping. At that point I get up and all my good intentions disappear. Or, I am wide awake at my usual bedtime hour and know that I can’t go to sleep right away. Same problem with good intentions. I’ve tried meditation, substituting a hot herbal tea or decaf coffee and they don’t work. What works is if I get involved in doing something else and now every night I’m giving myself a task to do if I’m unable to sleep. Let’s see how that works.
|
|
|
Post by honeybzzzs on Jan 24, 2023 19:29:52 GMT -5
ermabomPerhaps, first finding out what Tendency you are will help. Then that can be combined with some of the ideas that Clear has. The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin helped me. Taking her quiz, I’m an Obliger. And I am!!! I can tell myself that I should walk more. But if it’s just me, being accountable to Just Me it won’t get done. Having a money bet with a friend had me walking every day. I wasn’t going to have to pay her the money that we had agreed on if we skipped a day. (We had a bet for “at least 1/2 mile, every day, for 2 months”) But once the challenge was over, and I wasn’t beholden to her any more, then I stopped walking. I enjoy walking. I said I wanted to continue, but I didn’t. I need that accountability. My sister had me join her in 2 sprint triathlons. I had promised that I would do it. I was part of a relay team for one sprint, and the other sprint I did all three items. I had to learn to swim!!! Because I had someone that was depending on me I couldn’t let her down. When I want to change a habit, or install one, I keep those tendencies in mind. I can then use some of the ideas in this book to be more successful at refining habits. Perhaps that would help you too. Gretchen has a quiz on her website to help figure out our tendencies.
|
|
|
Post by ermabom on Jan 25, 2023 11:07:38 GMT -5
honeybzzzs, yes, I also am not influenced by outside forces. I have to convince myself that something is right before I will do it. I looked up Rebel, just for kicks and one thing that someone had suggested was to allow oneself to eat mindlessly from low carb foods in the fridge and that made the desire go away. I'll have to think about that. But the other tips that the individual suggested were things I already do: Restrict quality, not quantity - I do this. I limit most of my eating to foods that are good for me and my daily plan works from those Relish cooking and cooking things that are unique - I pretty much cook all our food and I enjoy cooking new and different healthy recipes peacemama, I am currently doing that but that isn't sufficient. I need to cut back on that habit to achieve my health goals because I am eating more than I should at a time when there isn't much physical activity. My goal is to eliminate it as a habit and it is like smoking I guess. I quit and then backslide and I'm hoping the quitting occurs more than the backsliding!
|
|