I managed to get out of bed by 5:00 a.m. I’m an early riser by nature (as is our three-year-old son), so it wasn’t so bad. I had a tougher time with the sit-ups and push-ups that followed, but I wanted to get in the morning exercise. Then, over a cup of coffee, I sat down to write out the list of good and bad habits. It was definitely an interesting exercise. I think any success I’ve had in my working life is due to a few basic habits, especially meeting deadlines, being on time, working hard, and caring about my appearance. Regular exercise is another good habit I’ve always had, along with showing affection for my family—good-bye kisses, saying “I love you,” etc.
So those are the good habits. The list of bad habits is a bit longer, but I think I can get rid of a lot of them just by being more aware. For example, I sleep with the phone and computer on the bedside table and end up checking them in the middle of the night. I’ll keep them somewhere else. I hope that will help break the pre-bed TV habit, which I look forward to replacing with reading. I also check social media too much during the day, including while I’m driving(!). So I need to put the phone away. My desktops—both the digital one on the computer and the real-life one in my office—are pretty disorganized. That will be harder to fix, but I think with daily organizing it will improve, too.
Whoa, that was an early wake-up call! But I got up and actually walk-jogged for two miles through pitch-dark streets. I was cursing every step of the way, but I did it. Later in the day I used Erik’s list to chart out my habits. It was a pretty interesting process. Obviously, I have fairly piss-poor eating habits, but I never really examined them closely. Little habits, like taking my coffee with milk and sugar, jumped out at me. Or how there’s almost always a bag of candy or chips or a sports drink in the car, which I reach for inevitably anytime I’m sitting in traffic. Basically I do a lot of mindless eating throughout the day. I feel like if I just eliminated that one bad habit, it would point me in a better direction. Then there’s the bigger stuff, like how I’ll think nothing of plowing through a plate of hot wings and washing it down with a few beers while watching the football game with friends. That wasn’t even a good idea in college. It’s definitely not smart at this age. But you know, it’s just become part of the routine.
I feel like the person in the job interview here who responds to the question about weaknesses they might have by saying they’re a perfectionist. But the truth is, I didn’t come up with any explicit bad habits. I don’t drink or smoke or overeat. I drive the speed limit. I answer important emails right away. I’m not saying I’m perfect. I wouldn’t have signed up for Hell Week if that was the case. But it doesn’t look like eliminating bad habits is necessarily the answer. Or if it is, I’ll have to look deeper into the behavior patterns for bad habits that are less on the surface.