Day 1: 4 new habits in 28 days - Goal Setting

And we're off.

Update: Day 1 of 28 days to embed 4 new habits - in my case habits that support my arthritic knees. Although this process of adopting new habits, by committing to do them for 28 days, can be applied to any habit in work, life or play! 

So do please join me as you also adopt a new habit or two, allowing us to silence the old habits' whisperings, and face the challenges together.

Progress made on day 1 was:

1. I will eat gluten free every day (not just when i feel like it) - achieved - although easier than when I first went GF four years ago - I just need to be consistent 
2. I will do my hip mobilisation daily -  achieved but again easily because we did it as part of personal training 
3. I will keep sufficiently hydrated - easy to say achieved as I failed to set a target - oops
4. I will do one thing differently every day - achieved - I cleaned my teeth using my left hand! More on why I've chosen this as new habit in a future blog.

Observation: 

Sh%T - too many things to think about - how will I measure progress, what's my end goal, why am I doing this, how will I share my progress and .... what about doing some work and not blogging ..... oh and what were the 4 new habits I said I wanted to commit to. Just starting to realise why it's best to keep it to one new habit not four!

First thing I need to do is understand why I'm wanting to make the commitment in the first place. What's the reason - the 'why' behind making the effort.

For me the why is about improved flexibility, stamina and less pain in my knees. Although as I type I realise that's not enough of a why - what will having that flexibility and stamina do for me in life - what will it allow me to do that I can't do at the moment. In other words what's my vision. To get a better understanding of this I realise a well formed outcome will help, and commit to do this over the weekend.

I also realise I need to understand where I am in relation to my goal currently. That way any progress made over the 28 days can provide the added motivation to stick with the new habits. My personal trainer and I chatted about these, and by Monday will have the 'current situation' logged.

I then need to double check that these new habits will support me achieving this goal. I suspect there are other new habits, and if I can get these cracked first it will make everything else a lot easier to do.

Other activities undertaken to support my knees:

Having found it easy to beat myself up in the past for not making progress, I realise there are other activities that I'm already doing on a daily basis to support my goal of flexible and pain free knees. In order to stop the beatings I'm going to remind myself daily of what these additional activities are:. 

• Marjoram essential oil in my bath
• Beetroot in my risotto 
• Ginger with lemon in hot water first thing 
• Flat and cushioned footwear - for work, rest and play

What would help you to pat yourself on the back daily?

I'd love to hear how you got on, and the challenges you're facing as we adopt new habits in our lives.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject either here on The Purchasing Coach site or over on my Landscaping Your Life site where I use nature as a metaphor and teacher for our lives. 

Anyone with osteoarthritis may also want to review my Pinterest board with over 150 links on how you might be able to improve living with arthritis. In addition to keeping hydrated and eating gluten free these also include use of beetroot, ginger and marjoram.

#28daychallenge