What habits have you developed for yourself? Are you working on any habits for the new year?  Back in late October I decided to add in one healthy habit at a time for myself. I started with drinking more water.

For step one, I began to track how much water I was drinking. I knew that it wasn’t a lot, but I didn’t truly have an amount in my mind. I use my Fitbit tracker, since it’s already connected to me and tracks my steps every day. Early on I saw that I was not drinking much water, so my goal was to drink at least 64 ounces each day. It took me about a month before this habit became consistent – both the drinking of the water and the tracking of my intake.  After Thanksgiving, I had a great stretch through most of my winter break where I met my goal just about each day. It was so nice to see a row of little stars on my app!

Source: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/drink-more-water-jar-silhouette-vector-5983312

Looking back, this last week was not good for my goal. The difference between last week and last October, however, is that I still drank 40-60 ounces of water each day, I just didn’t track a full 64 to hit that goal.  Back in October, I was drinking half that amount! It’s nice to see that I have developed a habit of drinking more, and that with focused effort I can continue to meet my goal.

Another habit I wanted to work on this month was writing. I set a goal for myself to write every day.  So far, I have written in my journal every day this year, I have written 4 blog posts, and I’ve even written some not-ready-to-be-read-by-anyone fiction. There are still many more days in this month, but a few things have helped me with this goal.  First, I keep my journal on my kitchen table so I see it in the morning and the evening each day.  Second, I created a list of blog topics that I might want to write about, so I have ideas as soon as I sit down to write. Third, I told a few friends about this goal for accountability (and now anyone reading this!). I love writing, but I’ve never made a conscious effort to commit to a daily practice. I look forward to reflecting on this at the end of the month to see how I feel.