Tag: Atomic Habits

Atomic Changes

Christina BruniLeave a comment

A wise woman asked me to think of this:

“Where might a small change in my routine or habit create more energy?”

I opted for drinking a 23-ounce aluminum bottle of water every day at or near 7:00 a.m. consistently.

This is a question I think everyone should ask ourselves when we’ve reached a plateau.

And hey, I was excited to think that a shot of espresso in a tiny cup could lift fatigue.

It can be hard to change or break negative behavior. The book Atomic Habits is out of print however it’s likely available as an e-book or to check out of the library.

At the end of this James Clear guide is a two-page summary of the specific ways to replace an old habit with a new one.

Atomic habits I think are the ones to shoot for before things reach the point of requiring a drastic overhaul of everything all at once. Which is an impossible feat to accomplish.

Engaging in micro-habits to begin with if you ask me is the way to sustain the lifestyle and spark your motivation to continue.

This is where filming and living life in a slow beat production counts. To rush, cut corners or take shortcuts is a halfhearted approach guaranteed to be shoddy and precarious.

In the long run it’s always wise to take the long view if you ask me. Using the 90-day action plan in the book Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions could be the start of long-lasting or forever-lasting behavior change.

What if what you and I want to do is start something new and not replace an old habit? What if there’s nothing you want to change only a habit you want to add?

I like Google’s AI response. Per Google:

To start something new without replacing a negative behavior, focus on adding positive actions via habit stacking (linking new to old habits), starting incredibly small (micro-habits), changing your environment to support the new, and using mindfulness to build awareness, making it about growth rather than removal, with supportive plans and celebrations for progress. 

I wasn’t a fan of using Google until its first responses turned out to be excellent AI information that I could really use.

A small change is like an atomic habit. If we can micro-dose our happiness in tiny joy “snacks” each day as one expert calls them why not micro-dose the goals we have in smaller steps in the form of daily sub-goals?

More on these ideas coming up in a review of National Get Organized Month in January.

First coming up here a review of a new cookbook that if I remember right has just come out this fall.

Sparking Joy to Live Longer

Christina BruniLeave a comment

I had COVID for exactly two weeks. Though a mild form it was terrible to live through. A friend told me that because I exercise and eat well this was most likely why I had only a mild form.

What got me mentally energized when my body was slowed-down was binge-watching Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo on Netflix.

In a burst I tidied up my desktop and desk drawers. I placed in a donation bag a small wooden box that hung out atop my desk for 11 years.

The tidying up was life-changing. It led me to want to adopt atomic habits like James Clear wrote about in his book Atomic Habits.

The trick is to tidy up every evening instead of letting tasks and objects pile up in your household.

If you ask me Marie Kondo’s clutter-control method is the only one a person should use. This Japanese tidying-up guru is not only transforming her clients lives and relationships. She might be improving their health.

A Health magazine special edition titled Living Longer the Science of Longevity has an article titled Fastidious Forever.

The mortality risk drops 35% for highly meticulous people according to research.

To wit from the article written by Marta Zaraska:

Fastidious people also have a better relationship with stress. They often thrive when life feels controlled and stable–think structured days and a relatively predictable future.

Science reveals that people who are good at meeting deadlines and maintaining tidy surroundings can have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which has been linked to a litany of afflictions from diabetes to cancer to heart disease.

When hardships do happen, neat freaks tend to cope better.

Inflammation may also play a role. “People who are more conscientious have healthier inflammatory profiles.” According to Angelina Sutin, PhD.

They tend to have lower levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein, common markers of inflammation.

Interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein have also been associated with severe cases of COVID-19.

Did I have a mild form of COVID because I’m a neat freak 🙂

I rest my case: Marie Kondo is actually improving the health of her clients.

Watching Kondo’s clients pile mounds of clothing on their beds to assess what to keep and what to toss I felt better.

It’s because though I’m a Fashionista I own nowhere near half the amount of clothing Kondo’s clients had clogging their numerous closets.

In the coming blog entry I’m going to talk about adopting atomic habits.

Binge-watching Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo I realized the solution is to not let things get out of hand to the point of being overwhelming.

Dumping clothes everywhere could cause a person to feel “down in the dumps.”

As I can attest when I tidied up my desktop and desk drawers I was energized and had more hope for recovering from COVID.

Bruni’s Atomic Habits

Christina BruniLeave a comment

About seven months ago I read the book Atomic Habits. I recommend that readers buy a copy. The author lists simple small effective ways to create new positive habits in your life.

Come to think of it this might have been round about when I changed one thing:

In April 2019 I ditched having Purely Elizabeth’s ancient grains mush for breakfast.

Pour granola in bowl; add milk; eat in three minutes. Repeat. Every morning.

That had been my strategy for breakfast for too long.

In April I paid $395 for the services of a Health Coach. She zoomed in on this breakfast choice as one possible root for my lack of energy.

It’s January 2020. And 9 months later I’m happy to report that things turned around.

That April I changed one tiny thing: buying organic ingredients for my morning meal.

Scrambling two Handsome Brook Farms organic eggs with organic diced yellow red and orange peppers, tiny organic broccoli florets, and sliced organic mushrooms.

One month after this eggs-cellent food makeover I changed something else out of the blue.

One morning in May I decided to exercise at 7:00 a.m. Since then I exercise at home in the morning and early afternoon 2x/per week.

On Labor Day I bought the self-cleaning oven. Since this splurge I’ve been cooking my own dinners on most nights.

In November I started using the treadmill 1x/per week–another goal.

This is proof that slow-and-steady wins the race. Because our lives aren’t a race to the finish line–you know where that leads.

I’m not a fan of trying to execute numerous goals all at once.

This is contrary to the fact that a magazine recently touted that new research claims making four or five changes all at once is possible and effective.

I’ll stick to the Atomic Habits guidelines and to the Changeology action plan.

You simply don’t know what’s possible until you try.

My metal Michael Jordan quote paperweight is inscribed thus:

Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.

Changing one or two things at a time has worked for me.

The funny thing is, after executing these new habits, I can say that I have more energy and confidence, and my body is fitter and stronger too. Plus I lost 12 pounds without trying to : )

Not too shabby for a person who will turn 55 in the spring.

I’ll end here by telling readers not to write the ending of your story before you’ve started the first page.

Expecting the worst–that you “can’t” do something or “won’t” be able to do something is a mistake.

I had no idea the direction my life would turn when out of nowhere out of the blue on a Friday morning in May I decided I had to exercise at 7:00 a.m.

This is the reason that planning things down to every minute detail can backfire. This is why telling yourself you need to see results quickly will derail your success.

In coming blog entries I’ll give recipes for healthful snacks. I’ll talk a little about my own “food plan” which has also become a habit recently.