A line on Kristi Holl’s blog caught my attention the other day and has stayed there since. In her recent series on creating goals, pursuing and finding the energy for them, Kristi puts forward a lot of important points. What struck me was the idea that we should create new habits, not mere resolutions.
It’s a simple idea, but so amazing. This could be the antidote to all those New Year resolutions already crumbling under the weight of the to-do list. Make habits. Do something for 21 days, they say, and it becomes a habit.
Try it. Write a little everyday for 21 days. Read a page before you go to sleep. Write a blog post every evening.
If you need an easy way to keep track of your habits (and be reminded of whether you’re slacking), I recommend the Habit List from Productivity501. I use this to keep track of my writing goals and I’ve managed to stay on track for this year so far.
Like I keep saying, try it.
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Kristi Holl // Jan 7, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Thanks so much for mentioning my blog and website. I’m glad the articles have helped. I taught writing for 22 years, and it was always issues like this that kept my students from publishing (not the inability to plot or create characters, etc.) It was LIFE getting in the way of the writing that derailed them, and implementing good habits and boundaries nearly always eliminates that problem.
http://www.Writers-First-Aid.blogspot.com
2 Janie Lee // Jan 13, 2008 at 5:20 am
I don’t have a website at this moment, but I do a lot of writing and stuff, it is important to me. I think that I am going to try to take some time to write what I want to write and see how that works? My youngest is growing up and soon I will be alone, my writing has been my life and my passion for my whole life. Even now I am not sure who I am? I just wonder who you are? Thank you anyway for being out there in this world!
3 Mark - Productivity501 // Jan 18, 2008 at 3:47 am
The “habits instead of resolutions” is a very good point. I hadn’t thought of it like that before. When most people create a resolution what they really want is a habit, but most people don’t look that far down the road to see where they really want to be.
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