One Less Thing

Don’t you love a good paradox? Or what seems like a paradox?

In my April adventure I’ve been reminded of a few things.

First is that the key to establishing a new habit is to do it daily. That way it becomes automatic. It doesn’t require a great deal of thought or effort. On day 19 of my adventure, I’m almost at the magical 21 days to establish a habit. Except that science may tell us there isn’t anything special about that number after all.

The elements of my daily dozen that I’ve enjoyed most of all? Posting to this blog. Spending more time with family. Studying Spanish.

Second is that by attempting to do too much, not everything gets done particularly well. Now that I’ve experienced the power of multiple habit formation, I may set one area of focus for each month. One new habit at a time. Smaller, more manageable steps.

It reminds me of what Seth Godin said about N-1. He asks a powerful question. Rather than squeezing in one more thing, how much better could you do if you did one less thing?