It is the first weekend of the new year and I have been thinking about habits I would like to form and ones I would like to break in 2021. There was a great piece about this on Art of Manliness today. Art of Manliness is published by Brett and Kay MacKay. I have been following them for over a decade. It has been a great resource as a parent raising a son. They also have done a lot of pieces that helped me reflect on things like this.
This morning’s article lays out one of the reasons that many of us fail when we are trying to create a new “good” habit or break a “bad” one. We are usually trying to do more than one. I have certainly experienced this in my own life. For the past few years, I have tried to focus more with some success.
In 2017, my wife and I decided we wanted to get healthier. We had a lot of success that year by eating smarter and getting regular exercise. We both had good results lowering our weight and improving stamina.
In 2018, we decided to move to Tallahassee. There was so much change that year that I really didn’t focus on anything personal. It was all about the move.
In 2019, I decided to start reading more for the intellectual stimulation and enjoyment. I made reading a daily habit and have had some success. I read 22 books in 2019 and 32 in 2020.
In 2020, I decided to write more. THe first half of the year was a bit of a lift, but I was wrote fairly consistently the second half of the year.
For 2021, Teresa and I are talking about refocusing on our health again. We have both gotten a bit of track from both a diet and an exercise perspective. Our goal is to improve both and dedicate some time to ourselves and our relationship every month.
If you are considering working on a “habit” in the coming year, I definitely recommend taking a few moments to read this Sunday’s Fireside at AoM.
Sunday Firesides: One Habit a Year to a Better Man
“While we like to flatter our capabilities, the reality is that changing even a single aspect of our lives is enormously difficult to do. Fragment your tenuous focus and limited willpower by working on several goals at once, and you don’t end up achieving any.”