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The Box & Guilt: 2 Strategies That Help Me Stick to Habits & Not Let Them Slide

Even On Really Horrible Bad Days.

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Long-term goals are wonderful things, and some are shiny enough to inspire a regular practice in and of themselves.

Other goals are more nebulous. Rather than pull up the word processor you pull up Facebook Rather than lay out the yoga mat you turn on Netflix.

Hey, it happens. Sometimes an episode on the CW is what you need more than an entry in your journal.

But: here are two ways I still manage to do things when I really don’t want to:

1. Check the Box!

I don’t quite understand why humans like checking off lists, but they do. Something about that blank box makes you want to put a big green check or red X or fill in the circle completely when you’ve Got Something Done.

I’ve got a little row of seven circles each week in my bullet journal for my Morning Rituals of journaling and yoga, and other boxes for drinking water each day and reminding my accountability partner about her goals.

Does it always work? Nope. But the unchecked boxes will nag at me until I can fill them. Sometimes a Bullet Journal isn’t obvious enough; my partner Natasha uses a dry-erase board on the…

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Gray Miller
Gray Miller

Written by Gray Miller

Gray is a former Marine dancer grandpa visualist who writes to help adults figure out what they want to be when they grow up.

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