Yesterday, I was standing at the till ordering my first “good” coffee of the day.
Taylor asks, “what can I get for you today?”
“The usual,” I respond. “Three-shot Americano. No room.”
“I need all the coffee I can get,” I joke.
It’s the same every day. Three shot Americano. No room.
Then I proceed to tell her about a statistic that Emily told me about. Approximately, 70% of our thoughts and actions are exactly the same today, as they were yesterday.
“I don’t even know why I order an Americano every day,” I continue. “I can’t even tell you if that is my favourite coffee. You have a whole list of coffee’s I have never even tasted.”
Day in and day out
This got me to thinking more mindfully about my actions and thoughts.
Every day I get up at my usual time (between 5:00am and 5:10am). It’s normal to hit the snooze button three or four times.
Once out of bed, I put on my sweats (same as yesterday morning) and go downstairs. I drink a 400ml glass of tap water, and begin cycling through my head which podcast I feel will best accompany my morning walk.
Shoes. Check. Jacket. Check. Reflector vest. Check. Earbuds. Check.
5:15am out the door.
The decision about whether it is a long walk day or a short walk day is made by the end of the driveway.
There are about four or five factors that inform that decision. And, they are the same ones every day.
Rain or shine? My laziness quotient. The potential number of emails. And, whether I walked long or short yesterday.
As was pointed out in a previous post (It started with a morning walk) this routine was transformative for me.
The transformation wasn’t so much in the discipline of doing it every day. Rather, it was the decision to break a routine of doing something else (in this case doing nothing else).
It was the moment I broke out of one routine and started another, that was so powerful.
What do you think? Let me know about habits or routines you have changed and the results that followed. Or, maybe something that you might change but need a little encouragement.
I have followed your lead on de-cluttering. Some good items have been sent to new homes. Much more to come. I have found that the more I clear out the more that I want to continue that and increase it even. Thank you. You said to appreciate and pass it on.
It’s pretty amazing how much we are creatures of habit. I feel less guilty about sharing my location with Google as the average passerby would know what I’m up to 70% of the time. ????