If I needed to choose one word to describe me, it would be unfollowthrougher. Another would be Idontfinishanything. Ok, I cant do it in one word. I start things with great intention and purpose, but then I stop. There is some productivity. I don’t always quit before I achieve anything. Thanks to my ability to start new things, I can create calligraphy, make greeting cards, paint a flower, sew a mask, and occasionally lose weight.
If you have a big project to do that seems a bit overwhelming, you should break it down and start small. Easier said than done.
For example, I’ve convinced myself that I am a Yogi because I have a yoga mat and a 30 class card to a yoga studio. When I am at the studio, I love it. I walk out of the class every time, saying that I will do this regularly. But yet, I still show up once in a blue moon. When our covid isolation started, the studio put up virtual classes on Youtube. I loved them and did them every day for a week and a half. Then I stopped.
Starting Small
Google it, and you will find a million ways to make something a habit by starting small. What trips me up is that I never get past the starting small and then do not move on to the part where it becomes a habit. Never. Not once. Ever.
Instead, I will show you that staying small is not a bad thing. I’ll present you with things you can do that will only take 10 minutes of your time. Ten minutes seems to be the only thing that gives me motivation, energy, and the will to continue with something. Ten minutes is less time than I spend in the morning checking Twitter, Facebook, and texts when I wake up. Ten minutes is one daydream about what I will do with my lottery ticket mega millions win. Get my drift?
I’m starting you off with five things below, but there are zillions. Pick one that’s easy enough to do every day and….. voila, a habit. Let me know how it works out for you.
Yoga
First, I am starting with Yoga. Roll out of bed and try 10-minute Yoga with Kassandra. It’s the perfect amount of time, and you can complete this practice before you get the urge to collapse your downward dog and brew your first cup of coffee. Before you can convince yourself of the zillion reasons to stop, you will be flat on your back Shavasana- ing. The best part is you will feel accomplished before you even have jumped in the shower.
Watercolor and Calligraphy
I am obsessed with Lindsay Bugbe and her website/blog, The Postman’s Knock. She is responsible for my Calligraphy passion. Because of her, I now make every greeting card I send using a dip pen for the calligraphy and watercolors to illustrate. Before this, I shied away from every art class or project. I saw some ad on Facebook about becoming one with nature by writing daily platitudes with fancy writing. I clicked on the link to buy the instruction kit, and it was going to cost a month’s mortgage. I skipped that and searched my friend Google to find The Postman’s knock. Lindsay has a way of making everything she teaches easy to learn. No joke. I can’t even draw stick figures on my own. Go to her website, The Postman’s Knock, and spend 10 minutes learning a skill that may develop into a passion. Anything’s possible.
Make a Mask!
I am not kidding. Ok, I do have a sewing machine. One day, I was in JoAnn’s Fabrics, and I had a coupon that they let me use on a sale item. There was a sewing machine in a clearance aisle, and I had a flashback to High School Home Ec and the most hideous pilgrim dress ever, but I bought it. I made a hat, and then the sewing machine settled into its permanent resting place- a spare bedroom closet. Hello Covid, a quilting cousin that had lots of scrap material, YouTube, and here I am with a mask tutorial. Now I only make one mask a month, so the hospitals are not knocking on my door. And my family will not wear my day of the Dead and Cartoon puppies patterns, but who cares? I have an endless supply for me. Go for it.
Daily Lit
DailyLit is really for the type A (not me at all) that needs to fill in every minute of their time. Or maybe if reading a book to you is too overwhelming in this scan and scroll world. If you only have 10 spare minutes a day you can open your Daily LIt email and read a 10-minute portion of a book and before you know it you will have read a whole book. Baby steps, I guess. Here are a few more reading ideas.
Take a Walk
When in casual conversation, someone brings up that they went for a walk, my brain automatically thinks forest, timberlands, and ugly down vest. I think of a walk as a few miles with a friend or a long solo trek listening to a trashy podcast. However, a walk can be a short stroll to the end of the block and back. It can take 10 minutes, and you will get all the benefits of a hike. Ok, that’s a bald-faced lie, but it will get you out of the house, in the fresh air, change up your routine, and, yes, some exercise. Read some additional benefits of walking in my article 5 Benefits of Walking Around a Lake ~ Unless you are me.
Just Do it!
It truly doesn’t matter what you do. I’m not going to tell you to clean out a closet, Do the Border of a puzzle, Buy cookie-making ingredients, Tie-dye, Just give yourself 10 minutes to start something fun. Who knows? Maybe you will find a hobby or an obsession.
