My 7 Habits
After publishing my book report post last week on “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” I want to unpack that idea a little more and give some personal anecdote on what it means to me.
First things first (see what I did there?), I need to be honest with both myself and my audience here. I have neglected a lot of maintenance-type obligations in my life. My health is not the best, as my eating habits are frankly awful, and I haven’t exercised in probably over a year now. My weight is the highest it’s been in even longer. I was supposed to have a yearly physical on the day that I started my current job. I’ve been here now a year and a half, and still haven’t gotten that well-check visit.
Beyond my physical condition, I think my mental condition has also fallen by the wayside. I spend more time being acted upon, not consciously deciding to act. I don’t think I would call it depression, but it certainly feels like I’m not in control of my life and decisions. There is an element of existential dread that makes my own mortality feel like an oncoming freight train that I’m just trying to get away from. Instead, I want to understand the inevitability of death and maximize my life until that time.
The critical element in my opinion is to make small changes that can be more easily maintained for a longer duration. Sure, some people make drastic shifts and gain notable results for a short time, but that sort of enormous change typically fizzles out quickly and people resort back to previous habits after a time. I don’t want that to be the case. If a change is small enough that I don’t mind making it, it should be easier to follow through with in the future. As time passes, I can increment and improve on these small changes slowly and gradually.
Another key facet to this plan is to review weekly. Covey makes a good argument for the seven day week as a nice, whole unit. It provides enough slack that you aren’t micromanaging every single day or hour, but the feedback loop is small enough to monitor change and improve inefficiencies. I haven’t yet decided exactly what point of the week I want to be my recenter point, but I think that’s the best way to regularly review and see how my progress is going. If I notice some problem, I can make note of it and plan to address it by the following week. Seven days later, I can look at that same issue and see if my changes have had any impact.
I called today to schedule that yearly physical. I went to my apartment complex fitness room today and worked out for the first time in a long time. These are improvements that I want to make now, and maintain moving forward. There will be times when I fall back into less ideal tendencies, but I want to regularly sharpen the saw and consciously decide to renew these habits frequently.
First things first (see what I did there?), I need to be honest with both myself and my audience here. I have neglected a lot of maintenance-type obligations in my life. My health is not the best, as my eating habits are frankly awful, and I haven’t exercised in probably over a year now. My weight is the highest it’s been in even longer. I was supposed to have a yearly physical on the day that I started my current job. I’ve been here now a year and a half, and still haven’t gotten that well-check visit.
Beyond my physical condition, I think my mental condition has also fallen by the wayside. I spend more time being acted upon, not consciously deciding to act. I don’t think I would call it depression, but it certainly feels like I’m not in control of my life and decisions. There is an element of existential dread that makes my own mortality feel like an oncoming freight train that I’m just trying to get away from. Instead, I want to understand the inevitability of death and maximize my life until that time.
The critical element in my opinion is to make small changes that can be more easily maintained for a longer duration. Sure, some people make drastic shifts and gain notable results for a short time, but that sort of enormous change typically fizzles out quickly and people resort back to previous habits after a time. I don’t want that to be the case. If a change is small enough that I don’t mind making it, it should be easier to follow through with in the future. As time passes, I can increment and improve on these small changes slowly and gradually.
Another key facet to this plan is to review weekly. Covey makes a good argument for the seven day week as a nice, whole unit. It provides enough slack that you aren’t micromanaging every single day or hour, but the feedback loop is small enough to monitor change and improve inefficiencies. I haven’t yet decided exactly what point of the week I want to be my recenter point, but I think that’s the best way to regularly review and see how my progress is going. If I notice some problem, I can make note of it and plan to address it by the following week. Seven days later, I can look at that same issue and see if my changes have had any impact.
I called today to schedule that yearly physical. I went to my apartment complex fitness room today and worked out for the first time in a long time. These are improvements that I want to make now, and maintain moving forward. There will be times when I fall back into less ideal tendencies, but I want to regularly sharpen the saw and consciously decide to renew these habits frequently.
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