Small Investments. Big Returns.

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”― James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

As we wrap up the holiday season and mark our almost two-year anniversary of “pandemic” living, pause, reflect and take care of yourself. Fill your well. Play. Read. Relax. Move your bones, every day. Lift your spirit, every day. Laugh, every day. Seek and find joy in ordinary days. It is in our daily commitments and activities we make progress, attain contentment. In daily rituals, we grow, transform and change.

Ditch the temporary excitement of New Year’s Resolutions that flounder and fade by February and start today and each day going forward starting three things and build upon them. Small investments in activities that keep you learning and growing, creating and contributing. Find what fits and continue. Discard what doesn’t fit after trying it for at least three days.

“All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.”― James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

When the pandemic started, I restarted the practice of Morning Pages and haven’t stopped since. Julia Cameron developed the practice of Morning Pages – writing three pages right away when waking. Whatever comes to mind, stream of consciousness without stopping, editing or critiquing – improv on a page, a blank slate. By the time you get to the third page, clarity, connections and patterns begin to emerge. Some days, nothing. Most days, something of value arises in the practice. It’s also the prompt that leads me to my second daily ritual of writing a post a day on my other blog Cast Light.

In the beginning of 2021, I committed to writing daily on Cast Light, without fail. Some days were a struggle and others the words fell on the page. Often not polished, at times random and certainly imperfect. But there’s power in what Seth Godin describes as “shipping the work”  - hitting publish and releasing it into the world. Some posts hit, others fell flat, but no matter what, always shipping the work to get better, to take action, to start and finish to prompt more starting. Also, hopefully adding a healthy dose of optimism, belonging and connection into the world.

My third daily commitment is 10-15 minutes of meditation using the Insight Timer app. Usually music, sometimes prayers or guided meditation. Simple. Accessible. Effective. There’s plenty of research that shows that meditation can sharpen attention, reduce stress, increase compassion, improve mental health and enhance relationships. It helps anchor me in gratitude, joy and optimism.

As I reflect on this year and begin planning for next year (as much as we can plan in year 3 of a pandemic), I am sticking with my current rituals while adding weekly and monthly ones as well. A few that I’ll start with include strength training three times a week, writing articles for Start3Things once a week and reading for longer periods at least four times per week. Three is enough and others can be added when these take root first. When we start new habits, we crowd out the habits that don’t serve us well.

Create your own three daily rituals, add some weekly and monthly activities to mix it up and stick with them. Don’t overthink or contemplate too long. And if/when you miss or fall away, start back up. We all trip, fall and miss the mark. It’s in the starting, in the small investments that we reap the big returns. What resonates will stick with action, repetition and practice.

Small investments. Big returns. Start. 3. Things. Repeat.

“The only choice we have is to begin. And the only place to begin is where we are. Simply begin. But begin.”― Seth Godin, The Practice: Shipping Creative Work

21 Lessons from 31 Days of Practice

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

At the beginning of January, I committed to write every day for Cast-Light. I’ve done a 30-day streak in the past and then dropped back into inconsistent posts two to three times a week when the “feeling” hit. If we base our practices on feelings, progress will be sporadic at best.

After completing a full month of daily writing in January, I intend to go beyond “challenge” mode into committing to a daily practice of writing and “shipping” the work. Over the last 31 days, I’ve learned some lessons that come only from doing, not thinking about doing.

1. Choose a few daily commitments, follow through and make them non-negotiable activities;

2. Find the optimal time to do the work that matters first. For me, morning is my best time to write before the day’s activities take over;

3. Some posts were good, some were forced and some needed more time to percolate, but the goal was to launch each day. Perfect repetition, imperfect posts;

4. In The Practice, Shipping Creative Work, Seth Godin notes that doing the work daily, executing imperfectly is the key to success;

5. To get started each morning, Julia Cameron’s morning pages method of 3 pages of free flow journal writing with no boundaries or rules laid the groundwork for writing, the pre-work that led to the first draft and then evolve to launched posts;

6. Meditation focuses energy and guides direction – after 10 minutes of morning pages, I added a minimum of 10 minutes of meditation and mindfulness time using the Insight Timer app;

7. Allow first drafts to fill the blank page without editing or judgment. Flowing thoughts that turn to words on blank pages are the formula of first drafts. Revisit, weave, find connections and strengthen transitions to publishable content;

8. Acknowledge and overcome the “lizard brain” of fight/flight. “The lizard brain is not merely a concept. It's real, and it's living on the top of your spine, fighting for your survival. But, of course, survival and success are not the same thing. The lizard brain is the reason you're afraid, the reason you don't do all the art you can, the reason you don't ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance,” Seth Godin;

9. Fear of starting dissipates by starting. Final “shippable” work always starts with a messy first draft that evolves into final content;

10. Resistance is a guarantee. Starting for at least 5 minutes daily overcomes resistance. 5 minutes become 10, 20 and 30 minutes without notice;

11. Start where you are in the moment. Nothing before, nothing after, lost in the moment, unaware of time;

12. Go between spectator observation and participant immersion, broad and narrow;

13. Remember to play to restore with time away from work and activity – get out in nature, go for a run, let things settle;

14. Keep a notebook with you at all times and write down thoughts as they come, don’t put it off, capture it in the moment;

15. Read daily to expand perspective, deepen connections and broaden insight;

16. Practice gratitude to move forward from a place of abundance, not scarcity;

17. Stuck? Take a break and return after a few minutes away;

18. Take time to reflect to look for lessons;

19. Clarity unfolds with action. As you step out, the path begins to unfold;

20. Use quotes to prompt new ideas and inspire a fresh outlook;

21. Confidence increases and fear decreases with consistent daily practice.

Lessons and insights are found through action, habits, structure and play. More imperfect doing, less perfect thinking about doing.

“It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.” -Carl Friedrich Gauss

Fresh Eyes, New Stories

“There is nothing for you to go back and live over, or fix, or feel regret about now. Every part of your life has unfolded just right.” – Abraham Hicks

We all have stories. Where we came from, what we believe, who and what influence our actions or inactions. What are your stories saying to you? Are you hearing a cheerleader or a naysayer? Are they telling to expand or contract? Too old or too young? Not good enough? Not worthy?

The narratives, the thought loop in our mind determines if we grow or remain fixed in our patterns, expectations and held back in the past. Each of us is the author of our own story so we can rewrite the narrative to prompt new action that results in different outcomes.

Old stories and limiting beliefs keep us living small and watching repeats of the same show. Our narratives need to be “fact-checked” and challenged. Critical thinking, optimism, focused work and intentional play break those old thought patterns and create new ones that serve us better.

As a part of my writing practice, I am always on the hunt for fresh insights, connections and constructs to push me into new thinking and ultimately into optimal doing. Podcasts have been a great addition to my running schedule.

Sheri Salata and Nancy Hala from the Sheri and Nancy Show podcast were interviewed on the Don’t Keep Your Day Job podcast this week. After listening, I wanted to learn more about them so I listened to a few of their podcasts and instantly subscribed.

After remarkable and successful careers, they started a business and podcast together in their late 50s. Sheri is 60 and just wrote the book The Beautiful No: And Other Tales of Trial, Transcendence, and Transformation. Rather than talking about retiring, getting out of the “game” and slowing down, they are dreaming new dreams, pursuing new pursuits, exploring purpose work that leads to transformation.

Their website The Pillar Life focuses on the 8 pillars of a happy life:

1. Health + Wellness

2. Spirituality + Happiness

3. Romance + Sex

4. Friends + Family

5. Creativity + Innovation

6. Adventure + Discovery

7. Sanctuary + Beauty

8. Money + Abundance

In their spring episodes, they have been interviewing Jack Canfield on his The Success Principles Workbook: An Action Plan for Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be as they work their way through this process themselves. When we approach life with a beginner’s mindset and growth mindset, we change, evolve and expand our whole being - mind, heart and spirit, at any age.

Challenge your assumptions, stories and expectations. When you hear limiting voices in your head, excavate them and build a new foundation. Break old patterns, shape new stories and enjoy each day, exploring, discovering, dreaming and doing the next right thing.

“When you scratch the surface, every one of us has something that we deeply want to contribute to the world. All we have to do is step up and do it.” – Jack Canfield

Thresholds

“Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view, That stand upon the threshold of the new.” – Edmund Waller

My project for the past few months has been preparing the first floor of my house for new vinyl plank flooring, replacing old linoleum, carpeting and laminate. It started with exploring different samples of flooring and paint, then choosing colors followed by a whole lot of prepping and doing.

Painting first, clearing clutter, a trip to the dump, moving an entire first floor into the garage. When the flooring contractor came out to measure my floors for the estimate, he said that I needed more clearance on my front door prior to install. I had a door contractor come out to determine the best way to deal with the door. A day later, he came back with a $3500 solution of replacing the entire door and frame, also noting that he couldn’t do it for 8 weeks when I needed it in 3 weeks. Another contractor, same answer. I removed the weather stripping on the bottom of the door which created enough clearance for the floors. I will be putting on new thinner weather stripping to fill the gap on the threshold.

Two contractors offered solutions that didn’t work and were just fine with a lame answer. Rather than going to the extreme, the “do-able” answer was found in simplicity and looking at the same situation in a different way. So often we think we have to “gut” and start over rather than shift and build up what is already present in front of us.

When we think we have to “remove the entire door” before starting, we don’t start. It’s too overwhelming and big. When we look at thresholds differently, we can simply cross over and move into action.

Starting exactly where we are in this moment, not getting too far ahead and allowing the road to unfold as we cross over one threshold at a time to build confidence, clarity and momentum.

Daily actions, exploration, reading and quiet reflection all add up, accumulate and create results. No grand gestures, no climbing mountains, no impossible feats. Daily action repeated.

The flooring contractor finished up the floors on Wednesday and new appliances arrived on Thursday. As I am reassembling my house, I am mindfully putting things in new places and not stuffing everything back in. I am keeping more open space, using what I already have in new ways and getting a few new pieces to create a brand new home without leaving my address.

As this project wraps up after months of preparation and planning, I am reminded that it all came together by defining and doing specific tasks, in order and driven by a deadline.

As you think about something you want to start or are still in the exploration stage, look at it like you would a home remodel project or your job. Define the end goal, the finish line, and work backwards to layout the daily steps needed to complete the process.

We need structure, a framework and accountability to get to the finish line which leads to new start lines. We are never finished and it’s an evolutionary rather than revolutionary process. So break it down and do three things each day to gain momentum and make progress over time. Daily commitment and action gives meaning and purpose to the destination.

It’s time. Cross the threshold.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney