This poor blog is sorely neglected. There are a number of reasons for this but one of my goals this year is to make time to blog. With three small children constantly needing something, many of my hobbies have fallen by the wayside because I feel like I can’t jump into them unless I’ve completed a number of other tasks related to daily life. Free time usually arrives when I’m already exhausted, so more intentional management of that time is the prescription for this year.
Atomic Habits is a book I recently borrowed from the library to read on my kindle. It has a lot of insight for developing better habits and one part that stood out to me was how habits are tied to your identity:
The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.
James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
I’m keeping this in mind when outlining my 2020 personal goals. (I meant to write this post a couple months ago, but here we are.) One of my first goals was to get a new block-based theme for my blog. I’m re-launching it today on the free Blocksy theme, because it gives me enough freedom to customize the home page to match my simple vision for it.
The Coronavirus pandemic has delayed my progress on some of these goals, but they are well underway. Last year I set my reading goal too high, so this year I wanted to keep it more manageable at 24 books. I’m also aiming to run 365 miles this year – another more realistic goal for me, since many days I am unable to exercise because of not having childcare at the right time. I’m also learning the tin whistle. I’m hoping to be able to play a decent tune by June and then have a selection of holiday tunes in my repertoire by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. Lastly, I want to be able to sew some clothes for my greyhound. That involves making the time and watching a few videos.
Of course, part of becoming the kind of person who does X is adopting the discipline of doing what that person would do. Adopting life-changing habits should be more transformative than shooting for annual goals. Then you reach the milestones more effortlessly – or so they say! I’m not looking for a shortcut, just more steady progress this year.