I am very excited to share a small success story today. More than anything else, this blog is all about ideas and it’s a great day when some of these ideas become reality.
The Backstory. I generally have a ‘wind down’ routine at the end of the day. Unplug internet, dinner, switch off laptop, guitar, <>, sleep. The <> denotes the last activity before switching on my beloved sleep cycle alarm clock and going to bed. For about one and a half years now, that’s been playing 10 minutes of games on the iPhone. It’s a habit I’ve been wanting to change but haven’t done anything about.
Desired Behaviour. One of the many changes that have come post my recent Himalaya Trek has been an urge to read more and exercise more. I spend roughly 30 minutes every weekday listening (typically) to books and most of these tend to be non-fiction/non-light. And I’ve been wanting to get back to some ‘light’ reading but haven’t been able to find time. This 10 minute end of day slot would be ideal.
So, desired behaviour has been established. The funny thing is that I’ve always had books on the side table next to my bed but never used it.
Switch. One of the principles from that wonderful book about driving change, Switch, came to mind. ‘Create a path of least resistance’ echoed in my head.
One look at my side table and I knew the problem. I didn’t have a table lamp! D’oh! When I did read before going to bed (rare occasion), I would walk up to my work table, take the table lamp out and bring it to the side table. This took work. It was the end of the day and I felt lazy. So, I never did it.
Of course, I promptly got myself a little table lamp.
Result. Voila! It’s been about 18 days now and I’ve been reading with no problems. Funnily, I’ve realized it’s so much of a mind thing. About 12 of these 18 days have been spent in hotel rooms and yet, the momentum has continued.
My Learnings.
– We are often just a step away from creating change in our lives. We are generally well aware of the current situation, we know what we want but we lack the insight to get us to where we want to go. A bit of thought or a bit of help from an external person – that’s all we need.
– Small changes tend to inspire big(ger) ones. I am inspired to bring about a bigger change – I’m eye-ing a standing desk at home. Leg work has already begun.. Baby steps matter.
– Change smells really really good. As Gandhi said, we ought to be the change we want to see in the world.
– We are never too set in our habits to change. The hardest part in all of this is a will to change. A big part of the game is indeed played in the mind.
Happy Monday! Here’s to making some small changes (a la how can we read/exercise/walk a bit more?) in our lives this week and celebrating when we succeed in making those changes.
A Learning a Day 