My Journey with Atomic Habits
I have read Atomic Habits several times –started with a group and then by myself. The group reading helped to understand some concepts that would have been difficult to comprehend by myself. When people share their experiences, it gives us ideas about how we can progress. And it there is a facilitator who knows the subject that is the cherry on the cake. No knowledge is useful unless it is practiced. I use the wisdom in the book in various aspects of my life especially in my health and wellbeing. Sharing some snippets from my journey with you.
1. I stopped getting bread and biscuits home. This is a new environment I created for myself when I decided not to have harmful carbohydrates. Sometimes when I eat eggs my mind things of a freshly toasted slice of bread with butter melting on top. But there is no bread available. And the craving subsides.
2. I ordered a fresh bowl of filling salads every evening. This made my evening meals healthy and easy. I did not have to do anything. Just open the packet and eat.
3. As an accompaniment it is easy to just pour ketchup from the bottle. It is readily available. I ensured there was a box of green chutney and one of coconut chutney always in the fridge. I also ordered pickles from a home cook. This ensured resisting the temptation to open the ketchup bottle.
4. Bengali foods are all amenable to eating with rice. I slowly reduced the portions. From god-knows-how-many spoonfulls of serving, I have now reduced it to one or two serving spoons. Doing 1% improvement every day.
5. I used the same strategy for starting a daily walking habit. I started with 15 min and increased by 5 min every week. I also laid out my clothes and shoes the day before so that the chore of getting ready did not seem tedious. It actually took me 2 min to wear my clothes and shoes.
6. I am part of a community that focuses on nutrition and then also has reminders for mental and emotional wellbeing and other aspects of physical wellbeing like sleep and exercise. This helps on the days when motivation is low. Also, you come to know the struggles of others and you are reassured that you are not the only one. We imitate the many.
7. Repetition not Perfection. That is a rule I apply in every area of my life. I used to be a perfectionist. And in that endeavour many things did got
8. In the initial stages of habit formation, I used to buy a book every week to reward myself for my efforts. Now I appreciate my efforts daily along with my gratitude journalling.
9. I now maintain a habit tracker for my daily practices. Some days it is not possible to do all of them. But the tracker tells me which practices I should focus on today since I missed on them on the last 2 days. Never miss more than twice. Else it will be difficult to bounce back.
10. Finally the Serenity Prayer which is not part of the book. Focus only on myself.
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