When you stop going to school, summer loses a little bit of its mystique and a lot of its free-time, so in a concession to adulthood many years ago I decided to make July my summer. I have tried to do something fun everyday of July for the past 17 years or so.
This year July ushers in the next decade of my life, so in addition to having fun I am trying to cultivate some good habits this July. I want to make an effort to focus on these three things: Activity, Reading and Writing.
Activity
Between all the fun things I want to get 60 minutes of activity a day, even if it is just rushing from one fun thing to another. The NFL supports the "60 Minutes of Play a Day" initiative and that is what I am striving for. If I think of it as Activity instead of Exercise maybe it won't seem like such a chore. This may result in me dancing around the living room while watching the Daily Show every night to make my quota!
Reading
This is the no brainer of the list. I love to read and I really love to read in the summer. In addition to actually reading I intend to do a better job of logging my reading on Goodreads and writing reviews of what I read so I can reflect on it instead of moving on to the next thing.
Writing
This is the one that always gets shoved aside. I want to carve an hour out of every day to write. It can be a blog post or a really clever letter to a loved one. I could spend that hour on a new piece of fiction or dusting off an old one. I could focus on the memoir I am trying to write or some just-for-fun brainstorming, something like this. Writing begets writing and every little bit helps to craft form and style, so I am going to make time to practice my craft.
I have read that it takes 21 days to cultivate a good habit, so if I start now I could master these 3 things just in time for my birthday! Want to join me in my July of fun and self-improvement? What would you like to focus on? Maybe we can support one another. Cheers!
I'm trying to increase my activity as well, and that's a great way of putting it because "work out" has the word "work" in it. I'm also trying to eat less sweets, to get out of the downward spiral that began with my birthday.
ReplyDeleteYes, I feel like "eating better" is just always going to be there no matter what month, what season, what year we are in....
DeleteI love your July goals! I splurged and bought myself a Fitbit One, and it's funny how wearing that little gadget motivates me to walk more stairs, and try and hit 10,000 steps a day. I have found myself jogging around my apartment to get the last thousand or so steps in for the day. I also like data, the more charts and graphs the better!
ReplyDelete