Today’s task:
Continue to deepen your source of passive income/digital portfolio and take stock of your daily habits and rituals
One of the things I love best about James Clear’s work on building and breaking habits is this idea that your habits are only as good as your systems. And that if you want to change yourself, you have to think about the systems that set you up for the habits you want to build (or break).
I think I could probably read Atomic Habits seven more times and get something new out of it each time.
I wrapped up reading The Body Keeps the Score last week and started reading The Book of Ayurveda, by Judith H. Morrison, which happened to be something that someone left behind in the apartment I’m staying in. Over the weekend I made my way through almost three fourths of it. A lovely reminder from the book was this idea that your morning routines can help set you up for balance, no matter what dosha is dominant in your body – vata, pitta, or kapha.
I’ve really enjoyed learning about the different doshas and how they interact with each other, how you can learn to work with them and balance out your energy through food, movement, work, and more. It has made me realize how important it is to stay active as a counter-balance to my computer work, and how important it is to focus on activities that will strengthen my core and keep my shoulders open. It’s very easy working on a computer for your shoulders to cave in and for the muscles in your back to tighten as a result.
I know that over the long-term, I’d like to limit how many hours in a day I spend on a screen to about four maximum. Right now, of course, I’m a bit limited in making that happen since I seem to keep my days so full, but at least I know what I want to work towards.
Anyways, like I mentioned, I’m going to focus on getting my Behance portfolio up this week and that’s the only ‘task’ I’m assigning myself until it’s done. Even if it takes me until Friday, I’ve realized that I need to focus my energies on one thing – building out my passive income – and that starts with launching my online portfolio.
Along the course of the last 45 days or so, you may also have identified one thing that you know is going to make a big difference for you financially over the long haul, so my suggestion is that you focus on it this week and allow yourself to deepen in that space. Let go of anything else that might be pulling your attention in a different direction.
The other piece that I’d like to plant as something to reflect on today is how your habits either support or fail to support the person who you want to become. When you think about the best version of yourself, can you imagine the habits of this person? How many of those do you have in place now? Are there things that you’d like to add to the mix that aren’t currently there? What barriers exist that may prevent you from doing this today? Tomorrow?
I’ll humor you with a bit about my own aspirations. When I think about the best version of myself, it’s being the person that people love to hang out with because of my positive energy and attitude, my sense of humor and light-hearted nature, my kindness and thoughtfulness, and my sense of adventure. It’s being the person that operates from a heart-centered place, always, and attracts beautiful things into their life.
When I think about the daily habits and rituals that allow this person to be successful, it looks like the following:
- Balance between alone and social time
- Using alone time to recharge, stay intellectually stimulated, draw creative inspiration, and write to my heart’s content
- Inspired by the book I’m reading right now, “Food is part of the dynamic dance of life and its qualities, both obvious and subtle, affect [my] wellbeing” – pg. 130
- There’s a slow and steady quality about the discipline and focus that I bring to my work, but it’s balanced with playfulness and spontaneity. I have long chunks of focused work time uninterrupted by calls
- A morning routine that’s focused on quiet contemplation, mindfulness, gratitude, and setting intentions for the day
- An evening routine that allows me to slow down, take stock of the day, and end on a note of gratitude and love
- Connection with loved ones – whether friends or family – on a regular basis. 1:1 quality time for conversation, dancing, laughter, and joy
- Creativity through shared meals
- Dancing with divinity – daily practices that allow me to feel like I get to play with magic through my imagination, meditation practice, breathing exercises, sauna, swimming, and more. Feeling connected to my body and a sense of wonder for all that nature has to offer and the miracles of everyday life
Now it’s your turn!
What are the daily habits and rituals that you have in place now? Where would you like to shift them? What barriers can you imagine getting in the way of making those new habits come true? How will you adjust along the way to get closer to where you want to be?
I’ll throw James Clear’s website in the resources section for today as a reminder, in case you haven’t checked out his work before. Most of the content from his book is on his blog anyways, so you can get by without having to purchase the book, if you’d like. That being said, I highly recommend the book!
Today’s resources to keep you inspired:
