The New Year means new goals. We all start with great intentions, only to have them fail after a few weeks into the new year. Then the judging begins, and we go in the opposite direction. This year I will cut down on eating ice cream from 5 days a week to one night on the weekend. Well, that never works for too long.
You already have some great habits or routines that you follow every day. Stacking new habits to ones you already follow is a natural path to success. When I go food shopping, I don’t buy ice cream unless I am at the grocery store on a Friday (I try to avoid the grocery store on the weekend). That way, I don’t have the temptation or the ice cream to overeat. I have stacked my goal of eating less ice cream with my shopping. Success!
Each morning while I make my breakfast, I think of three gratitudes to start my day on a positive note. To get more exercise, I always park in the farthest spot from my destination. I never have a problem finding a location, and it helps with social distancing.
My favorite stacking goal is for garbage day. Keeping the house clutter-free as much as possible is my big goal this year. I play my favorite song loud (really loud), grab a large garbage bag, and go from room to room collecting garbage. There are always items on desks, sinks, tables from the week’s projects to be tossed. When the song is over, stop. It’s great fun, and the kids love it, so they join me. Full disclosure, I am a tosser, so there isn’t always something to find. That’s when I focus on the garage—the final dumping area—one song at a time.
Some of my stacking goals this year are composting and gardening. I have a compost bucket with a lid in the kitchen to make it easy and accessible. When the garbage goes out, so does the compost. Then I will have a great start to my garden in the spring.
What new habit do you want to stack?