One Hit Wonder

Today, a friend asked me what God has been teaching me and here is my response:

I don't want to live my life waiting for a "one hit wonder" moment.  God has been teaching me that the things he wants to develop take time, faithfulness, and patience.  The daily mundane tasks are serving their purpose and to be honest, sometimes I don’t know what that purpose is or will be.  The small thank you to the boss for how he cares for us draws us closer together and continually builds our relationship.  Cooking with the kids (as messy and slow as it can be) is building their ability and independence in the kitchen.  One day I hope they’ll cook for me or others confidently.  The endless washing of dishes producing self-discipline to not complain and faithfulness to try to complete the small.  

It’s the small daily tasks added together that make the impact over time.  These seemingly small actions take daily effort and stewardship to establish.  

I think about the David and Goliath story (1 Samuel 17).  David wasn’t a foolish young man. He didn’t try to take on Goliath with only hope.  David was a slinger with fierce faith.  A slinger in those days would be equivalent to a sniper in our modern day.  He knew his ability.   I sometimes wonder if David came to realize before going to see Goliath that this is why God had him in the pastures.  Did he understand that the lion and bear he slayed was in preparation for this big moment?  I wonder how awful his first attempt was at using the sling.  How many rocks must he have gone through each and every day for years to establish his skill.   David lived his every day prior to his “one hit wonder”.  Of course, he didn’t end up only being a one hit wonder but building an imperfect but well lived life and legacy.  

I am in my own sort of pasture, even at thirty-ish. There is a lot of learning, failing, and establishing skills.  There is waiting and being faithful.  Each pasture season is helping me to prepare for the lions, bears, and Goliaths that come. God has been teaching me to appreciate even the most mundane of tasks because each one serves its purpose.   

Keeping the House Tidy During the Pandemic

We all have different thresholds for tidy.   On a tidy scale of 1 being don’t care and 10 being OCD I would rank about a 7.  This to say, I wish our home was clutter free home and I like for things to be clean but I’m not a super neat freak.  ALSO, no shame depending on where you are on the scale. 

I am a person who can think clearer and am less overwhelmed when things are tidy.  I notice this about my kiddos as well.  They tend to play more with their toys when there is less, know where everything is and it isn’t so “busy”.

Knowing my expectation for tidy, what is my solution to getting our rhythm back in the midst of everyone at home during this pandemic?  First and foremost TRACKING. 

Habit tracking is a simple way to measure whether you did something or didn’t.  It also helps you to see if something is important or isn’t.  I’ve been tracking what we are cleaning and when with Clean Mama's calendar and BOY is it telling!  Its telling me I need to clean my bathroom 😂.   Okay all joking aside, it’s a great guideline for me to see what chores are left undone and who to assign what chores to. 

Here is what tracking has taught me:

1. Can’t get mad at having a messy house if we as a family aren’t putting in the work to clean the house.

2. I CAN verbalize if I’m the only one doing most of the work but not the only one living in the house 😉

3. My family and I need to work on putting things away and thorwing things away.  This would reduce clutter and work.

4. Will try to implement a 20 minute tidy after dinner before we relax. 

5. I need to stop buying more stuff, I’m seeing the clutter build up in different corners of the house again.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the state of your home during this pandemic, TRACK your cleaning habits.  Having information from tracking allows you to tackle the task with a plan!  My plan this week is to implement for quick 10-20 minute cleans and to get the whole family to finish the daily cleaning tasks right after breakfast. 

Compound Effect Challenge and Free Printable

The premise of Darren Hardey's book is that it takes one small step taken everyday over a long period of time that can make a radical difference in your life.  Let me explain in this video. 

                                                             

This printable will help you to decide which area in life to focus on, choose one habit to develop for the month and execute. 

I'm doing a month long Compound Effect challenge on Instagram.  If you are someone who needs accountability head over and check it out. 

See you next time,

How to Build a Habit

I looked back on my list of goals from 2019.  Wah wah wah.  I completed half, some were started, and yet others left untouched.  I asked myself, WHY?  Why did I fail to complete many of the goals I had set out to do? 

There was one missing common denominator and that was consistency.  I would start something and fizzle out after the excitement of the "new-ness" would wear off.  I needed an answer and there on the end cap of an aisle at Michaels I found it.  I picked up a very simple and basic journal about habits and knew this was it. 

Instead of goals and resolutions I am creating HABITS.  Deciding what good habits affect my everyday and working on building and maintaining them.  I figure the rest will fall into place after that!  This is a year long expirement of building one habit every single month.  I'm breaking it down week to week in impossible to fail pieces and sharing all the tid bits with you all!

I condensed the jest of the journal into a one page printout.  Fill it in, put it on fridge.  Focus on it and hang out in Instagram stories where Monday we will hold each other accoutable.  

If you want a smaller printout, there you go! 

Let me break it down for you.   Building a habit is done with three important components and did you know 40% of what you do every single day is out of habit whether you are aware of it or not!  

TRIGGER

The trigger indicates that you are about to do something.  After you bring groceries into the house do you immediately sit on the couch or put them away?  Going to bed may be triggered by brushing your teeth and washing your face.  Every habit starts with a trigger. 

PLAN

Intentionally building good habits require a plan, whether it is in your head or on paper.  You have to know why you desire to continue doing the habit, what challenges you may face, and how you will react when the challenges come up.  

REWARD

There is a reward to every good and bad habit that we have and that is why we continue to do it.  If you can identify that reward and remind yourself of it when you just don't feel like it, then it will be enough to put your body to action.  For my buddies who wash their dishes before going to bed.  You know you have created that habit because there is a glorious sense of peace to wake up to an empty sink.  

Let me show you an example of what my plan is for one this months habit if keeping the house tidy: 

Remeber, what you do everyday matters more than what you do sometimes.