My Grandpa was a Sailor and he told us that the first thing he had to do every morning was make his bed and have it inspected.
I always thought man, that would be rough and then I also wondered why that was so important?
He said it was starting your day with an accomplishment, which then translates to tackling other tasks in your day. It also reinforces that fact that the small things in life matter.
If you can’t do the small things right, you will never do the big things right.
You may think geez it’s just making your bed and I am going to get back in later tonight…what’s the big deal!
But, making your bed creates a neater look to your bedroom, a calmer more peaceful environment. It also starts your day feeling efficient, productive and disciplined.
It’s like not drinking enough water every day…
Or missing a workout…
Or not filling out your food journal…
It may not impact you right now but day after day, not doing the small insignificant things in life will add up.
If you look down at the scale and it’s not moving…you have to look back in the mirror.
Am I doing everything I need to do to be successful or am I leaving something out?
By now we all know there is no magic pill.
You have to exercise or be active most days of the week and eat reasonable well.
It’s the compounding effect of doing things that truly feel insignificant, but they can lead up to a life time of success.
With anything in life you have to be consistent. Commit to finishing the job. We all want the results yesterday, but anything in life worthwhile take time and effort.
Positive Habits take work and consistency.
What do you want to achieve?
If you want to see some weight loss, start with drinking half your body weight in ounces and cut out any drinks that contain calories (Beer and wine have calories, J).
Then depending where you are starting start with 2-3 days of doing an activity: It could be biking, walking, or hiking some trails.
Get a calendar out and check off each day that you performed each activity. It will be a sense of accomplishment putting that check mark on there.
When it comes to your food try to adopt some meal planning strategies. Again start small, maybe you only plan your lunches, tackle that for a few weeks and then add in dinners.
Personally, when we do our meal planning, I plan three different meals or recipes. On Saturday or Sunday we go to the grocery store and get everything. Then, I take 1-2 hours to cook everything up and put the food in containers. Taking this small amount of time sets us up for a successful week of food and we have also saved money by not eating out.
It just takes the discipline to do it.
Also we now have our son Leo ,so we make sure we support each other in the process. It is much more challenging if you are caring for your children and trying to cook everything…it’s not impossible, but enlist the help you need so you can be successful.
There is nothing more satisfying than looking at all those containers set up in the fridge ready for the week, especially when all the containers match, LOL!
So the small act of making your bed will start your day with satisfaction and discipline…what positive habit will you start?
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