6 changes

Alright. I have done my homework. I read a bunch of websites and I particularly like the one from Leo Babauta, http://6changes.com. The idea is to choose 6 or less changes that you want to make in your life. You will work on only one change at a time, and spend 2 months on each change to transform them into habits. When you have decided what will your first change be, you then make a basic schedule for the following 8 weeks, integrating this change in your daily life. You need to find a trigger, something that you do everyday, that will precede that new habit. For example, brushing your teeth, drinking  a cup of coffee, etc... You need to start very small, but really stick to it everyday. It should be your priority, over anything else. If you stick to it for 8 weeks, then it becomes a reflex, and your brain associate the trigger with the new habit. That is the idea anyway.

So I am gonna start next Monday. My first change is daily exercise. I have been trying for years now and when I decide to exercise, I do very well and stick to it for a while, but there is always a moment where work or lazyness catches up and I drop the ball... So lets try again. My schedule is pretty hectic : some days I go diving, and I work from 7am to 5pm; some days I go home after that around 5pm, but some days I need to do some work at the office and I stay until 8 or 9pm; some days I work at the office from 11am till 9pm; some days I am off; and there is no planning to this, it is all from one day to the next. So finding a trigger was not an easy task because my days are all so different... Well, actually i DO get up (almost) everyday. Great. Here is my trigger. Get up and go exercise. 

The first week, I am really only supposed to get up, lace up my shoes and that’s it. Second week, get up, lace up my shoes and go walk for 5 minutes. Everyweek you make it a little bit longer and harder, and by week 8, you are running 20’ everyday. I can see that it won’t be easy on diving days, when I will have to get up at 6am instead of 6.30am, but at least at that time, it is nice and cool out there... To give myself a longer term goal and a pretty good motivation, the Man and I will sign up for a triathlon that we will run this summer in the US. He has done many marathons and triathlons, but this will be my first. I find it quite exciting ! The distances are quite short, and the course is flat, and he will stay with me the whole race (even though he is sooo much faster than me...). Something to look forward to, I can’t wait !

I know I am supposed to stick to only one habit at a time, but I am doing so good at de-cluttering, that I don’t want to stop. Yesterday, I put away one of my favourite pair of jeans, that I don’t fit in anymore. Not only are they my favourite pair, but they also have a history : they saved my knees in a motorbike accident a few years back in Thailand, and still have a patch on the right knee to prove it... But really, what good are they doing to me in my cabinet if I can’t wear them ? I will give them to someone and maybe one day they will save their knees too...