In our activity-driven culture, it’s difficult to find clarity, to hear and actually listen to our own voice amidst the noise. Six months into COVID-19, rather than time-deprivation, we now struggle with fear, uncertainty and open time with the backdrop of an undefined future. Different noise. While time is no longer an excuse, focus is certainly difficult. Following concrete steps can help us discern, execute and enter a state of flow that moves us forward in our own development.
In The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod defines six daily habits to transform our life. Based on research of high performers and successful people, these foundational steps build on each other to create lasting success rather than a “short-cut” scheme to instant success. Fundamentals executed daily create results. His acronym is SAVERS:
Silence
Affirmations
Visualization
Exercise
Read
Scribe
When woven together, they create a stride and cadence to make progress, creating small wins daily. Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer have researched the power of small wins. In their research, they discovered the “progress principle.” “In our recent research on creative work inside businesses, we stumbled upon a remarkably similar phenomenon. Through exhaustive analysis of diaries kept by knowledge workers, we discovered the progress principle: Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress—even a small win—can make all the difference in how they feel and perform.”
For the past six months, I’ve been doing four of the six of these strategies to provide structure in a very unstructured time. Affirmations and visualization techniques are now on my list to pursue. Each morning, I write in a journal, read and meditate in silence before the day starts. Even 15 minutes makes all of the difference. The few times that I haven’t followed through, my day wanders off in directions that don’t serve me well. Reading has also been a new focus in these less busy times. It not only expands my knowledge, it also gets me out of limiting mind ruts while improving my writing practice. Ryan Holiday’s Stillness is the Key will certainly convince you of the value of silence to gain clarity and flow.
In March, I signed up for the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington DC on October 25th. It would be my fourth marathon and on my list of dream marathons to complete. In April, I downloaded a training plan and started training. As the pandemic persists, they decided to cancel like all of the other road races across the country. They were one of the last holdouts. While I decided to defer my registration to next year, I also decided to keep training and do the marathon virtually in the Twin Cities. While it won’t be the same as running with Marines, passing beautiful and historic monuments, it will still be a win to complete the plan and run the race. My friends and family will be gather to support me along the way. By staying on track with the training, it not only fills my exercise prescription, it does wonders for my spirit and soul.
All six of these habits can seamlessly be woven into our days without much disruption as we create small wins that lead to progress.
BONUS - I am adding a “7th Activity” to my “to do list” – PLAY! Play triggers our imagination, creativity and joy. We will make it to the other side of this pandemic and be better for the struggle through it. The question is what are you going to do to be better on the other side? Start today, keep moving and make progress one step at a time. We’ve got this.