Routine Maintenance

In order to get out the door this morning, I had to cut my Miracle Morning short.  It was my own fault, and I got everything in except for the scribing (this blog), but it has taken me half the day to get back to it.

As a former expert procrastinator, I have to have a constant vigil on my routines.  Allowing myself to slack on a day is a slippery slope for me.  I know this about myself.  There is always a danger, especially when developing a brand new routine or habit, of walking away if you fall off the horse instead of getting right back up on it.

Don't fall off the horse.  It is important to be impeccable with your word, something which I strive to maintain in my life.  It is doubly important when it is your word to yourself.

Maintain your routines like you would your most valued possessions.  A small action repeated daily will have massive effects on your life.

Eat cookies daily?  I don't have to spell out the effect.
Drink a green shake every morning?  Vitality like you've never seen.

Why do I spell out the effects of the green shake and not the cookie?  Because we all know somebody who "eats cookies daily" or who has similarly detrimental routines and habits, but not everybody sees the people who are getting their greens in.  As a hint, it is a majority of the healthy and vital people you run into on a regular basis.

Routine maintenance, maintenance that happens in cycles, be it daily, weekly, yearly.  Cycles are important when it comes to routines.

"I'm going to drink a green shake every day for the rest of my life!"

Blech!  No!  Who would possibly commit to that?!  I would LIKE to drink a green shake every day for the rest of my life, just because I know what that will do for my health and well being, but I can't possibly have integrity in that statement because there are too many variables that could prevent me from having a green shake one day in my foreseeable lifetime.  Just like that, word broken.

"I'm committing to ninety days of drinking a green shake every morning!"

That you can see yourself doing—especially if you like how your shake tastes.  It doesn't have to be ninety, it could be thirty, it could be an intensive three shakes a day for ten days.  It doesn't matter.  What matters is that you commit, you are impeccable with your word to yourself, and that you have an achievable and measurable goal.

Then, at the end of ninety days, thirty days, ten days, you reflect, you reevaluate, and you make new commitments or recommitments with yourself.

As an aside, I have green shakes on my mind because I'm day three of just such an intensive today.  My weight had climbed because of poor decisions I was making with food to cope with some temporary stress, and I decided it was time to turn that train right back around.  Down 9 lbs. in three days—healthily, I assure you, as some of that is inflammation and excess water weight—and loving the burst of vitality after a rocky couple of days detoxing all of those bad food decisions away!

I already know after my ten day intensive, I'm committing to 90 days of a green shake a day.  A combined one-hundred days of green shakes.  Can you imagine?  I can, and I'm looking forward to it.

You heard it here first, my newest hundred day challenge.  I have a feeling this will be much easier to achieve than my hundred days of Bikram yoga doubles.

For those that aren't in the know, this blog was originally started to share my experience doing three hours a day of hot yoga for one-hundred days, and I'm proud to say that I showed up, limbered up, and got the T-shirt!

And, yes, I still practice yoga.  It is an integral part of my regular maintenance.

Namaste