Committing to adding one small change at a time. If I’m going to floss every day from now on, I don’t start that the same week I start exercising.

Trying different times when a particular activity seems unpleasant. I used to hate flossing before going to bed. For DECADES I hated night time flossing. About 3 months ago, one of those “Well, duh!” moments came: floss after brushing in the morning. I don’t know why I like it then, but I do. The universe does not care when I floss, but I do.

Make the change pretty and appealing. Chips and pretzels, out. Snack-size veggies in. Bought a bright red small colander to put cherry tomatoes in and they look great on the kitchen counter. “Oo, pretty! I think I’ll eat one!”

Permission to only do a little and see what happens. Okay, I don’t feel like pushups today. So just do a couple and then quit. Or, hey, I’ve done a couple, might as well finish them. Didn’t finish? A couple is better than none.

Self-forgiveness. I didn’t exercise today. Beating myself up won’t give me today back. Breathe, re-center, start again tomorrow.

Perspective on what I’m doing right already. At least I don’t need to stop smoking or beating my children or wearing plaid tights. Although I do post comments on blogs that make me sound like I have my shit together, when I very often don’t.

Small tweaks to routine work pretty well for me. Taking stairs 2 at a time, walking in place while brushing my teeth, stretches during commercials… in a couple years this had built up to weight lifting and more legit exercise. I fall off the wagon occasionally, but during those times I still take the stairs by 2 and generally keep up with some basic stretches.

Need to find ways to incorporate it into other aspects of my life though.

Love that Lao-Tzu quote on your sidebar, btw. A good reminder for me today.

Matthew – Thanks for clarifying and adding. As I knew you would. You’re so good like that!

Karen – What a wonderfully inspiring story! And thanks for the kind words.

Melissa – Good point on the buying in part. I’ve found that once I get the “why”, it’s much easier to roll with whatever. And I think that is a LOVELY compliment. Perfectly written.

Deb – Okay, this is the 477th time I’ve seen kaizen lately. Have to put it on the list of stuff to read up about. Thanks, as always.

debbe

Reframing as an exercise is so useful it ought to be bottled.

If there’s a snag in a re-frame it’s this: you have to buy into the story attached to it or at least be willing to explore that new story. For example, if the reframe has to do with swapping honey for white sugar as your go-to sweetener, if you don’t buy into the slant of the story behind the honey thing, you won’t ever feel aligned with it. And that can become a brain wedgie that’s hard to undo.

By the way, reading your blog is like that whoosh of fresh air when you first open a window on a late November morning. Sorry for the cliche, but I can’t think of anything better.

I also found that when I had my first child and the health visitor advised not cooking with salt, once I got over the initial shock of the difference and craving for salt, the food tasted so much better – I could taste the potatoes and carrots rather than the salt. Oh dear, what a shock – it’s now 23 years later and I’m still not adding salt to cooking water. It turns out it’s just as well because I recently found out that my blood pressure was very high despite my low BMI.

Generally, I eat what I want when I want. If I want some cake, I have exactly the one I want. But I don’t eat it every day or even every week. I comfort eat every now and then but come back to healthy choices as I feel better for it – my body craves lots of vegetables and salad when I haven’t had enough.

Thanks for a great site, Colleen!

Re: additive change, you might be interested in my article Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide: Productivity Lessons From Basic Math. Seems like we’re on similar wavelengths, applied to productivity and self-improvement, respectively.

For my Think, Try, Learn approach, the best link is How Do You Treat Life As An Experiment?. My fellow readers/experimenters here on your blog might also enjoy checking out Edison, the Think, Try, Learn experimenter’s workbook. It’s early days, but we’ll have an update in a few weeks.

At officially-48, I’m dealing with the first serious signs of physical breakdown.

I am definitely with you. I’m the same age, and, I have to say, getting old ain’t for the faint of heart (not that we’re old). For me it’s anxiety about my teeth. Years of grinding are starting to reap dividends.

Happy experimenting!

I have found that lasting change requires acknowledging what we are losing by giving up the habit. As we come to understand what we get out of continuing the habit and bring acceptance and compassion to that, we are much more capable of making a wise choice. With this awareness, when cravings and urges arise, we can love that part of ourselves that wants to take us down a slippery slope. For more info, I just wrote a post called, A Revolutionary Look at Changing Habits.

And I totally support you starting the SCD, if you need it. I was on it for two years, and it ended up being very much an “adding in” experience for me.

All the best to you….

Bon – You’re the poster child for self-improvement. It’s been astonishing watching this new you blossom from the old. Must definitely talk to you about the “yes” thing. I still have confusion around that—I say “yes” to many new things and end up with overwhelm. So. Yes. Wednesday.

Nona – Meditation may be a bit down the line for me. But I had such a good experience with Mark Silver’s Remembrance thingy, I may start that up again.

Marsha – GREAT list. Plus, I love lists!

Ellen – Fantastic story. Are you on Peter Shankman’s HARO list? B/c this is exactly the kind of story that needs to get out there more widely, and that you see crop up from time to time there.

PP – Interesting. Obviously—or maybe not so obviously—nothing works for *everyone*. Witness the raging discussion going on over at Gretchen Rubin’s blog around the FlyLady prescriptive of putting on shoes to work.

Anne – I might humbly suggest that in the scenario you mention, neither cheese nor cupcake is the main attraction. But if you need an antidote—well, you can always just send him to me.

LPC – Look. I want to do this. But there’s no well in hell I’m starting blow-drying my hair at 48.

Judith – Yes! I *am* still a baby, and I forget that sometimes. I mean, it’s gotten better with time, so it stands to reason it should get even better with more time. Thanks!

Briana – That Russ Harris thing is golden. Thanks.