Change Three Things

by Margit Crane on May 13, 2013

It’s early May and I’m ready for some changes. I am sick of the ol’ routine.

Being a big thinker and a perfectionist and a people please, I figured I’d change ten bad habits. Sanity returned shortly and I went from ten to seven to five to the magic number: THREE. Three is manageable. Anyone can change three things. At the same time, I know I can’t be dramatic about this. Drama never works in my favor.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Wanting to resist drama and actually doing it is two different things. I mean, come on! Those things that block me and my progress are also those things that help me numb out. I’m really good at that. Too good. That means that I’m losing my security blanket and THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Knowing I would be blogging about this :-) I decided to let you in on the process I used. I took a week to consider several possibilities. Some choices that I rejected were:

  • Buying something expensive that I need for my business
  • Eating healthy
  • Exercising
  • Reading every night
  • Weaning myself off of diet soda
  • Staying off Facebook
  • Not eating in restaurants (to see how much money I could save)

Much of this looks like a typical list, particularly the health ones but, for me, those didn’t quite capture the spirit of what I want to achieve. I’ve tried to eat healthy almost every day of my adult life, but saying it and doing it are not the same. For me, saying I will eat healthy doesn’t work. Do I really need to try it yet again?

I want to succeed, not fail yet again

I just let ideas come and go. I let go of the ones that were hum-drum or too plain or too boring. If I’m going to change, why would I want to be bored while I do it?

I found, too, that there were some ideas that made me gasp with alarm. Those, I realized, had power. I really didn’t know what good they would do me, but I decided that if they struck a chord, they were worth serious consideration. If I’m going to change, I want it to be meaningful. I don’t think it’s really possible to change your world just by picking something that everyone else picks. I needed to pick habits or activities that could overturn the way I interact with other people, with myself, and with the world at large.

Change #1 – No celebrity-gossip websites

This one may seem like nothing to you but, to me, it’s huge. I love reading celebrity gossip. I love feeling superior to the idiots in Hollywood. What I don’t love is how snarky I become when I read the articles. I turn into a straight-up b*tch. That can’t be good for my interactions with the world. If I’m always feeling superior or inferior to someone else, how will I ever be okay with being Margit? The world I want to create, the world I want to live in, is kind, positive, encouraging, and supportive of people. That’s not who I am when I’m reading junk.

Change #2 – No television

There have been years at a time when I didn’t have a T.V. but I was hoping that this wouldn’t be one of those years. On the other hand, there’s nothing really new on. Shows get more pointless or more bloody or more manipulative. That’s not a world I want to live in either. I waste a bunch of time staying up late to watch T.V., and then it’s super difficult to get up in the morning. Kids have limits on T.V. Kids have a bedtime. Why shouldn’t I???

Change #3 – Make decisions based on whether it will be good for my health

This one is crazy, but makes so much sense. I usually make decisions based on whether something is good for my business or whether it will create too much anxiety. I don’t make decisions based on my health. With my health, I live in a fantasy world – “Those 6 donuts won’t hurt you. Just go to the gym tomorrow.” “Stay up until 2 am. You can sleep in tomorrow.” “Even though you have Celiac Disease, a couple of bagels a week won’t hurt you.”

This is going to be the hardest AND the most worthwhile. I know what I need to succeed. The trick is that I’ll need to behave in a way that is contrary to the way I’ve behaved for the last 15 years!

I’ll need to…

  • slow down
  • get up at the same time
  • go to bed at the same time
  • eat gluten free and sugar free
  • go to the gym
  • drive less, walk or bicycle more
  • and several other new habits!

Want to join me? I would love the company! What would you change? What if it’s only 1 thing for 1 month… Scroll down to the comments and let me know your thoughts.

 

Copyright 2013 Margit Crane All Rights Reserved

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Who’s got a smarty pants?

“My son is 13, and has an IQ of 143.  He struggles with ADHD as well as Dysgraphia and PDD, NOS (high-functioning Asperger’s).  He is social and outgoing, and has a quick, sharp sense of humor.  Recently he took the ACT in partnership with the Duke TIP program for 7th graders.  He scored a 16, not shabby, but not a score which accurately reflects his abilities.  As he told me on the day of testing (which explained his score of 3 on a reading subsection, one of his strongest subjects), “I didn’t finish.  I started daydreaming about Spongebob.”

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