Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! OMG it is so cold! This morning it was -14 degrees Fahrenheit without the wind-chill. We’re staying inside as much as possible and snuggling up by the fire. There haven’t been any replays of the Lord of the Rings in the wood stove since Tuesday, but we’re watching. We usually go out to dinner on Friday evenings, but the wind was whipping and bringing in this cold front, so we decided to stay in and have breakfast for dinner. The pancakes came out a bit thin, so I folded them over and stuffed them with bananas and chocolate chips. We didn’t feel deprived, especially since we didn’t have to go out.
I recently heard an interview with the author Steven Pressfield who talked about his book, Put Your Ass (Where Your Heart Wants to Be). This was similar advice to what a professor I once had used to say, which was, “Put your ass in the chair!” The professor was specifically talking about getting academic papers written. No papers get written while you are doing anything other than sitting in your chair writing. Pressfield’s advice, though aimed at creatives in particular, is much broader. Whatever you want to do, you have to commit to it and do something toward it every day. I liked what Pressfiedl had to say in the interview, so I picked up the book. The book is more of a devotional, each page is usually a few short statements and meant to be meditated on, rather than read all in one sitting, so that’s how I’ve been trying to read it. Here’s one passage I read earlier this week:
I am playing the long game. I am inculcating a habit. I am deepening my commitment day by day, day after day. I’m training myself and reinforcing myself every day.
Last year, after reading Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits, I realized I needed to be more deliberate about building habits that would lead to my accomplishing long-term developmental goals, so I created a Google Sheet and set a bunch of weekly goals. I engaged in a fair amount of experimentation, adding and dropping things, and sometimes changing what goal accomplishment looked like. For example, I initially set out to do five cardio training sessions per week, and three weight training sessions per week. This forced me to have at least one day each week where I did both. While that is in fact doable, it proved difficult. So I cut the cardio goal to four sessions per week. Now I have a weekly goal of seven exercise sessions, which means I have to exercise every day, or else double up on a day. One of the things both Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits emphasize is making the daily targets relatively easy to accomplish and exceed, so that the target never feels overwhelming. So for my cardio workouts, I just have to move my body for at least 20 minutes. That can be 20 minutes of walking if that’s all I have time for. Right now with the cold and ice and snow on the ground, I’m running on my treadmill. When I go down to the treadmill and tell myself I only have to do 20 minutes. But when 20 minutes comes, I usually keep running. It’s easier to talk myself into running 20 minutes than 30 or 40 or 50, but once I’m going, it’s easier to keep going.
This year I have reduced my goals and sorted them into three groups: fitness, professional development, and creative development. I track my goal completion on a Google Sheet. Google Sheets are great because they are stored in the cloud, and I can update the sheet from my phone. This is what it looks like (desktop view):
(I am writing this too you on Saturday and as you can see, I haven’t done any of my things yet today, but I will.)
Having the sheet on the phone is great because I can review my progress at any time during the day and remind myself what I still need to do before the end of the day and week. Making everything super easy and as frictionless as possible is the key to keeping the habits going.
For fitness, I am continuing with four cardio sessions and three weight training sessions per week. I mostly do body-weight exercises (like push ups) for my weight training, plus some dumbbells. I call it my COVID gym.
For professional development, I am reading books and working on my research. For reading, I try read at least 20 pages from a book (or 10 pages each from two books) each day. The books have to have some professional development aspect - usually something in my field. Right now, for example, I am re-reading Paul Starr’s amazing The Social Transformation of American Medicine. For research, it varies a bit, depending on the project, but I eventually wrote a note to myself last year next to the Research line on the Google Sheet, “Just open it!” meaning, just sit your Ass in the Chair and open the file. Once I sit my ass in the chair and open the file, I almost always put in a decent amount of work. It’s just overcoming the inertia and anxiety about failing. If I don’t have a specific project, or I want a break, I read an academic article. The goal is small steps in the right direction.
Lastly, I am being deliberate about my creative outlets. I think everyone should have creative outlets - it is part of being a well-rounded human. Mine are writing poetry and visual art, right now specifically photography. As I’ve mentioned, my wife and I are doing a photo each day, which has been fun. They don’t have to be great, world-altering photos. Some days I just snap something with my phone and call it done. But other days I really take my time to set up a cool shot with great lighting, or I go out in the woods looking for something to photograph. Anything is fine as long as I get it done. For poetry, last year I made the mistake of saying I had to have one finished poem each week. That’s a good example of too much of an outcome goal, rather than a process goal. Habits are about process, not outcome. So instead of having one finished poem each week, I set a goal of writing for 10 minutes, five days each week. This gives some days off if I’m really not feeling it, and it puts very low pressure on the days I do. I set my timer on my phone for 10 minutes when I sit down with my notebook and I don’t do anything else during those 10 minutes except try to write. Sometimes nothing comes, but very often I don’t have an idea, but when I put my ass in the chair most of the time something comes, and it is often surprising.
One of the other things my poetry example showed me was that it was important to do things with greater frequency. It’s easier to do a small thing every day (or most days) than try to do a bigger thing once each week. If you have something to do once each week, you will tend to procrastinate on it until the end of the week. It’s easier to commit to and sustain 10 minutes per day for five days than 50 minutes on one day.
Habits lead to identities, and identities lead to sustained performance. I write poetry, therefore I am a poet. I do not make a claim about being a good poet - that is a separate matter. But what makes someone a poet? They write poetry. By writing poetry most days of the week, I can lay claim in my heart (if not in public) that I am a poet. Because being a poet is about doing poetry. I put my ass where my heart wants to be by sitting down and writing my poetry. Same with being a runner, weight lifter, reader, researcher, or photographer. I’m a runner. Not a very fast runner, but a runner nonetheless, because I run. You get the idea.
Can I suggest you give this a try? Google Sheets are free to use, and you can get the Google Sheet app on your phone for free, too. (here’s a link to my sheet - you can copy it, along with the stop light formatting if you’d like) Pick a couple of things you wish you were better at, or better yet, things you would like to be, and then pick easy steps you could take each day (or most days). Make it really easy to accomplish your daily goals. You can always exceed your goals, but it’s important that completing the baseline goal remains really easy. Pick a few different areas of your life, too. Fitness, professional development, and creativity are mine. You could choose completely different ones. Or just start with one and go from there. Regardless, put your ass where your heart wants to be.
Let me know in the comments if you try - I’d love to cheer for you!
OK - happy Saturday! I’ll be back Wednesday with links. As usual, willing good for all of you!