Posted by 20 Minutes to a New Life! Sounds like an infomercial, right?
If you act now, we’ll throw in a set of steak knives! They can cut a tin can, then a tomato!
Who wants a knife that can do that? What are people cooking?
I got a bit off track…
Ever finish a book or article which has some piece of actionable advice, and you have every intention of incorporating it into your life? You think to yourself, “I am going to start shampooing with Brussel sprouts daily!”
But you don’t. You forget.
Me too.
I have found something that is working though.
The Done app allows me to create micro-habits and easily refer to them each morning. I can “check things off” as I do them. Each time I get an idea of something I want to do more often, I add it in.
Two of the things I am doing stand above the rest, and I wanted to share these specifically.
Meditation
I know what you’re thinking. “I don’t really get the whole meditation thing.”
I felt the same way.
Try this right now.
- Close your eyes
- Take one nice big breath in and let it out
- Now take another and let go of all the tension in your forehead on the exhale (I know, right? Didn’t even notice it, right?)
- Now take one final big breath and unhunch your shoulders on the exhale.
How do you feel? Better? You just did the world’s shortest meditation!
I’ve been using an app called Calm. It has a 10-minute daily meditation that is super easy and is very uplifting. Tamara Levitt is the guide and she’s just terrific!
Stretching
I am doing 10 minutes of stretching each morning and the difference is amazing. It feels great and I can definitely feel it if I skip a day or two.
I use an app called Aaptiv for this. Aaptiv is like having a DJ and a personal trainer in my ear. It works for more than just stretching too. It has yoga, treadmill runs, weight training, and a bunch more.
So, with 10 minutes of meditation and 10 minutes of stretching each morning, I can get myself on a better footing for the day ahead.
My list of micro-habits is longer than just those two things, and I don’t always get to everything, but it’s great to have simple reminders from yourself about what you want to do rather than merely react all day to whatever comes up.
Not Immortal Action Step
Since I know I’m not immortal and need to make the most of my time, I will:
- Create a set of micro-habits and use them to ensure you do the things you want to do.
- Try stretching for 10 minutes in the morning.
- Try meditation
Plus, since you’re getting up early now, you can afford the 20 minutes now.
