Daily Practice and Habits

Yesterday two different sources told me about the importance of daily practice when it comes to writing. Seth Godin, marketing author, mentioned it in this interview  and Jason Smalley, a shamanic practitioner, videographer and writer mentioned it in a coaching call I attended.

Jason said that the three keys to improve his writing was:
- Write Every Day = Set aside time to write every day, make it part of your routine
- Publish Every Day = Share your work publicly every day. Seth Godin has been blogging every day for years
- Feed The Muse = Read inspiring content, Jason mentioned that some of his favourite authors take time to read every day to fill up their cup.

Is there anything you commit to daily? or weekly?

My Dad goes to the gym every day, he refuses to miss it. I can count on one hand the number of times he's missed it in the last 5 years (excluding Covid). 

I have shown lots of commitment to my artistic practice and tools for wellbeing, but daily practice is a bit wobbly for me. I like to meditate every day, but there are days when it slips. I also like to exercise every day, but this too sometimes gets missed. Prior to becoming a mother I had a devoted morning routine, but often now I wake at the same time as Bobby so don't have time to do those things first thing, and it's harder in the evening. My daily habits sometimes fall at the mercy of a toddlers whims.

As we transition into the colder months, I'm thinking about what I would like to commit to daily. This could also include things I want to remove from my daily routine, for example scrolling on social media.

In James Clear's book Atomic Habits he suggest that you make positive habits easy to do, and negative habits hard to do. For example, putting your running clothes next to your bed when you wake up (making it easier), not having biscuits in the cupboard or deleting social media from your phone(making it harder).

I am a sugar fiend and now I only keep 100% dark chocolate in the cupboard, because if I buy 70% I'll eat half a family bar in one sitting.

What good habits would you like to start or maintain this autumn?

“When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.” James Clear, Atomic Habits