A new year is here … again.
This year I turned 55 years old. Which seems like one of those ages that has significance. (Beyond getting a discount at Denny’s.)
And rather than trying to come up with all these goals and systems and plans and what not, I’ve decided to just take things one day at a time and scale things down.
Instead of using a digital calendar, I am using an analog Hobonichi Techo 2025 planner and 0.38 4-color Frixion ball pen.
Instead of planning out a year of goals, I’m just doing things one month at a time.
Instead of creating multiple lists of goals, I just have 3 goals:
- Body: Daily minimal strength training
- Mind: Track my finances each day
- Spirit: Pimsleur Spanish (Level 2) – 30 minutes a day
And each one of those is something that just takes about 15 – 30 minutes a day. Some even less.
As I’ve mentioned (ad nauseum), my challenge is usually consistency. So, I’m taking a page from Atomic Habits and creating the smallest level of practice to get closer to my long-term goals.
Here is a quick run-down of each:
Body: Daily minimal strength training
Because my muscles have atrophied to the level of wet spaghetti, I’m working on just one muscle group with one main exercise for 3-4 sets. For example, on Monday I do 20 repetitions of a wall push-up to warm up my muscle. Then I do 12, 10, 8 and max reps of a knee pushup. Then I do some band pushing as a super set.
Right now my max rep (it is week 3) is around 8 reps. But I started at much less so I can see that I’m getting stronger. And it feels good to have sore muscles for a change.
And it is giving me ideas on how to change things next month (or maybe sooner).
Mind: Track my finances each day
This is easy. I just make sure to check all my accounts each day and make sure my automated payments are on track. An ideal financial system should run mostly on autopilot. So, this month is filling in any holes in the system to make sure it is working as it should.
This takes about 5 – 10 minutes.
Spirit: Pimsleur Spanish (Level 2)
This month I’m working through level 2 of Pimsleur Spanish. There are 5 levels, so I am trying one each month. I’m thinking of visiting a Spanish-speaking country in the summer so this is a part of that.
I also supplement with watching Spanish language YouTubers or some TV shows, but that isn’t part of the daily practice. I just do it when I have time.
I have a few other daily habits, but those are the main three for January. February will be another set. And March another, etc. etc. You get it.
Image Credit: Created with DALL-E by OpenAI.