Quote of the Day -- James Clear

What starts as an excuse can easily become a habit. Don't let a bad day become a lifestyle.

-- James Clear

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 James Clear is a widely respected speaker and writer who focuses on habits and self-improvement. His best-selling book Atomic Habits has sold over 5 million copies.

Quote of the Day -- Gretchen Rubin

Nothing is more exhausting than the task that is never started.

-- Gretchen Rubin

Quote of the Day -- James Clear

The trajectory of your life bends in the direction of your habits.

-- James Clear

Quote of the Day -- Gretchen Rubin

Do nothing in excess, not even moderation.

-- Gretchen Rubin

Quote of the Day -- Flannery O'Connor

I’m a full-time believer in writing habits…You may be able to do without them if you have genius but most of us only have talent and this is simply something that has to be assisted all the time by physical and mental habits or it dries up and blows away.…Of course you have to make your habits in this conform to what you can do. I write only about two hours every day because that’s all the energy I have, but I don’t let anything interfere with those two hours, at the same time and the same place.

-- Flannery O'Connor

Quote of the Day -- George Leonard

Ultimately, practice is the path of mastery. If you stay on it long enough, you’ll find it to be a vivid place, with its ups and downs, is challenges and comforts, its surprises, disappointments, and unconditional joys. You’ll take your share of bumps and bruises while traveling – bruises of the ego as well as of the body, mind and spirit – but it might well turn out to be the most reliable thing in your life. Then, too, it might eventually make you a winner in your chosen field, if that’s what you’re looking for, and then people will refer to you as a master. But that’s not really the point.

What is mastery? At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path.

 -- George Leonard

Quote of the Day -- Marcus Aurelius

Such as are your habitual thoughts; such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.

-- Marcus Aurelius

Quote of the Day -- William Edward Hartpole Lecky

Passions weaken, but habits strengthen, with age, and it is the great task of youth to set the current of habit and to form the tastes which are most productive of happiness in life.

-- William Edward Hartpole Lecky

Quote of the Day -- Oscar Wilde

But then one regrets the loss even of one’s worst habits. Perhaps one regrets them the most. They are such an essential part of one’s personality.

-- Oscar Wilde

Quote of the Day -- James Clear

Learning is a marathon and perfection is a weighted vest.

-- James Clear

Quote of the Day -- Octavia Butler

First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice. 

-- Octavia Butler

Quote of the Day -- James Clear

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. 

No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your identity. 

This is why habits are crucial. They cast repeated votes for being a certain type of person.

-- James Clear

Quote of the Day -- James Clear

If you have good habits, time becomes your ally. All you need is patience. 

-- James Clear

Quote of the Day -- James Clear

Whenever there is a gap between your habits and your goals, your habits will always win. 

-- James Clear

Quote of the Day -- Octavia Butler

Habit is persistence in practice. 

-- Octavia Butler

20 for 2020 -- 1st Quarter Scorecard

If I don't think I can do something well, I won't try it. I seldom make New Years resolutions -- and I certainly don't share them -- because of fear of failure, especially public failure. in a probably related vein, back in the days when we wrote college papers on a typewriter (before computers or even word processors), I would rewrite the first page of a paper dozens of times until it felt perfect. Then I would start typing and the rest of the paper would just flow. And when I started doing Web pages at work, I focused as much on the formatting as the content. And when I got the "front page" right, the rest would flow.

Fast forward to 2020. As I've mentioned several times, I often listen to a podcast called Happier with Gretchen Rubin. She and her sister Elizabeth explore many aspects of happiness, human nature, and good habits. They read widely, but they also reveal a lot about their personal lives and their foibles, which often makes me cringe. Elizabeth, in particular, often shares aspirational, even outrageous goals, and then just shrugs when she doesn't quite get there. (Although I don't think she shrugs in her heart of hearts.) 

At the end of 2017, they started a project called 18 for 2018, inspired by a listener. It was a different, fun twist on the idea of New Years resolutions. The idea blossomed, and now we're up to 20 for 2020. I've made lists but never made them public in any way. Which brings me to writing papers and formatting Web pages. I've never been able to write a journal consistently, and I think that comes partly from the inability to polish a hand-written journal and make it look pretty. Hence this blog, which I have made no effort to publicize. It's really my pretty private journal, even though I fully realize it is out there in the world if anyone bothers to find it.

I'm going to take a giant leap here and post my 20 for 2020. The year is 1/4 complete and I've made decent progress, so I guess I'm prepared to make them official (and pretty). Notice that most of them have a "2" or a "20" in them, just for fun and to help me structure my list. I've assigned the theme "Consistency and Completion with a Dollop of Compassion." As I started 2020, I wouldn't say any of those three C's was a particular strength of mine, but I hope to work on all of them.  Here goes:

MIND
1. Increase my book challenge by 20% (60 x 1.2 = 72). COVID-19 has made it pretty easy to hit a home run here. I read 25 books in the first quarter.

2. Read at least 20% non-fiction. Home run here, too. 7 of my 25 books were non-fiction.

3. Write 20 travel-related blog posts. (As a side note, the main purpose of this item is to write stories of the various artifacts that decorate our home so the kids will know their origin tales.) I'm a little behind on this one. I've only written 3 so far this year. Time to step it up.

4. Post 20 Grants in Action for HEF. Big zero. I should make this one of my social isolation projects.

5. Play the piano at least 20 minutes a day that I am home. I'd give myself a B here. It's a bit harder to be motivated when social isolation has halted my piano lesson. But I'm enjoying playing old music.

BODY 
6. Exercise 20 minutes daily. (I haven't been religiously tracking, but I'd give myself a solid A- here. I've missed a few days, but not many.)

7. Achieve Noom "Red Victory" 2 days per week. (At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, I used Noom -- partly to see what all the hype was about. It was helpful for awhile, but I really struggled with what I considered an unrealistic limitation on what Noom calls "red foods" -- basically higher in fat and carbs. It did make me think a bit more about the kinds of food I eat, but ultimately, I felt rebellion which wasn't constructive. So I discontinued Noom, and I probably need to substitute something else for this item.)

8.  Crack the 120's. This felt pretty aspirational when I wrote it, but I am making better progress than I've made in quite a few years. Hopeful... and amazing if it happens.

9. Reduce A1C by .2 at every test. I seem to be making good progress. Only my next doctor's appointment will tell.

10. Practice yoga 2 x per week when I'm in town. I give myself a B+ here. I finally found a class at the Y that I liked and then self-isolation happened. Our former yoga teacher is doing virtual classes, so I'm hoping to improve this score.

SOCIAL  
11. Have lunch with friends 20 times. Obviously, this is a problem right now. I was doing well before isolation happened. I'll have to up my game when we get back out there.

12. Communicate with travel friends 20 times. Social isolation made this one happen easily. I think we're all reaching out to our friends around the world.

13. Have 2 "cousin dinners." Zero so far. This will have to be third and fourth quarters of this year, I think.

14. Have solo outing with each grandchild 2 x. Only 1 with Charlie so far. But we've done Zoom story time with Norah a couple times.

15. Volunteer at the GV library 20 times. 7 so far this year. And now the library is closed. But I think this will happen.

RESPONSIBILITIES
16. Reduce clutter by 20%. Definitely making progress.

17. Finish 2 important documents:
      a. Blue "nutshell" notebook
      b. Advanced health care directive

      Not much progress but hoping to do both of these during self-isolation

18. Finish 2 history notebooks for each child. Again, not much progress but hoping to do these during self-isolation

19. Hang 20 pictures at the Lake. We're discouraged from going to the Lake. So zero progress to date.

20. Give myself 20 pats on the back if I finish all this. There's hope!! 

Quote of the Day -- James Clear

Your current habits are perfectly designed to deliver your current results. 

-- James Clear

Quote of the Day -- F.M. Alexander

People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.

-- F.M. Alexander

Quote of the Day -- Gertrude Stein

Anything one does every day is important and imposing and anywhere one lives is interesting and beautiful. 

-- Gertrude Stein

Quote of the Day -- Anthony Trollope

A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.

-- Anthony Trollope