Project Starter

Making life changes is not exactly the easiest thing to do. I tend to be someone who likes to start projects. I mean, I am really freaking great at starting projects (ahem, this blog challenge being one of them). My biggest challenges are having the energy, mindset and drive to finish projects. As a means of calling myself out on my own short comings, I’d like to make a list of projects that I have started recently that I have not finished or have given up on.

·      Going through belongings and getting rid of things that I no longer wear/use.

·      Walk 10k steps a day

·      Eat healthier

·      Write 500 words a day

·      Read at least 20 pages a day (literature, graphic novels, any thing that is not the internet)

These are all pretty simple changes to make. Sure, there is a period of adjustment and building a routine, but I have come up with a simple reason why I’m not doing any of these things: I am a lazy person.

I could easily blame my laziness on my busy life or my friends always wanting to do things, but the fact is that I have to take personal responsibility for my own shortcomings.

Every once in a while, there is some sort of change I want to see in myself that is much easier to accomplish.

A few years ago, back when I had my 06 Toyota Corolla, I went to beach in the middle of the night with a few friends. On the way there, I was pumping my clutch along with the music. Eventually, after the previous wear and tear on the clutch and my own added wear and tear, my clutch no longer worked…So we were stranded at a gas station in the middle of the night. I had never been told not to pump the clutch. Somehow, that lesson was not a part of my learning period while driving. I changed my habit immediately though. Once I got the car back, I was suddenly very aware of my left foot on the clutch, and I went to great lengths to not engage the clutch except when needed.

What’s the difference between that and adding any of those things on my list to a daily routine? I’d like to be a healthier individual. I’d like to be a well-read individual. I’d like to improve my writing.

At first, I couldn’t think of what was stopping me. Really, I couldn’t. It took a while of thinking and really pushing myself out of my own comfort level to realize that I’m just 1-lazy and, 2-trying to take on too many things at once.

I’m really great at dishing out advice, but when it comes to taking my own advice, I’m awful. I don’t know how many times in the past year alone I’ve told people to slow down and get through one project at a time, or form one habit at a time. And what am I doing? I’m trying to conquer this whole “self improvement” thing all at once. There has been no two-week buffer to get started before starting the next stage; instead I’m just doing all of it, all at once. This is not a healthy way of forming good habits.

Naturally, my new goal is to do all of these things in stages. Without giving up or quitting.

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