My neon yellow notecard does not look like much.

From a distance it looks like a simple to-do list.

But I believe it holds the key to better habits for me.

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It began when Kevin read Atomic Habits by James Clear.

He is a fast reader, so often he reads a book before me and then summarizes it.

One of his takeaways from the book was the importance of habit trajectory.

The idea is that habits are either improving or declining….they are not stagnant.

So Kevin began keeping a notecard of daily habits he wanted to do, and each day he did the habit he put a letter by it. (M for Monday, T for Tuesday, etc).

At the end of the week, an easy glance showed him his progress.

I did not think much of his notecard at first. But as I saw him chip away and saw changes, I envied his method.

Yesterday I made my own to begin my own habit journey.

One thing I love? It’s customizable.

My notecard will be different than his because my goals and habits are different. But we can still encourage and support each other.

Here is what is on my notecard:

Wake up at 6am (no snooze)

Sometimes I set two or three alarms hoping to get up by 6am. Then I turn them all off and feel angry when I oversleep until 6:30.

So the goal is one alarm, no snooze.

1st cup of coffee at least 1 hour after medicine

My thyroid medicine is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach with no food or coffee for at least an hour. It is more effective this way.

But I also love waking up to a warm cup of coffee…so this has been a hard habit to break.

Walk my loop everyday

This beautiful loop I walk takes about 25-30 minutes, and it actually helps me delay my coffee if I do it right when I wake up.

So this habit reinforces my other goal! Win-win!

10 push-ups

Kind of just threw this one in there to hopefully gain a little upper body strength.

No grains

A paleo way of eating has actually helped me a lot these last two years since my diagnosis. Now I just want to refocus on avoiding grains.

No coffee after 1pm

Clearly coffee is a problem for me if it’s on here twice. As I try to decrease my caffeine I want to make sure I also focus on how late I drink it. Any cup after 1pm affects my sleep.

Write 3 posts a week

I feel good when I am writing regularly. And I have found writing is like any muscle….the more you use it, the stronger it gets.

Read 30 minutes a day

No food after 8pm

I almost never eat vegetables or other good food choices after 8pm. Usually, late night food = junk food.

Bed by 10pm

I need a bedtime or I get this weird “second wind” right before bed. I start cleaning or making lists and then I can’t shut my mind off.

Meditate 10 minutes

Kevin made me put this one.

Just kidding….he highly recommended it.

But he is right. I really do need to find 10 minutes a day of quiet.

Only 1 hour on internet per day (2 hours when blogging)

I actually have a timer going as I write this.

My family should not have to compete with the internet for my attention. That is not a fair fight.

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Nothing extreme is on this notecard, but all the things on here are meaningful to me.

I cannot wait to see what this first week of tracking reveals and the outcomes it yields.

“If your habits don’t line up with your dream, then you either need to change your habits or change your dream.” -John Maxwell

-Brittany