I am learning to think consciously about what is important to me and how I spend my time. The last few years one of my primary focuses was to get out of debt and stop spending money recreationally. Well back in April 2015 I paid off the last of my debt and have learned to spend money deliberately on things that I value. I have decided that my new will focus will be on my health by adding one good habit at a time to my day. Back in October I added my smoothie habit. See my post 52,000 Fewer Calories and I am happy to report that I continue to drink and enjoy my smoothies. I even have my honey requesting a smoothie several times a week.
One of my unmet goals for 2015 was to be flexible enough to reach my toes. Like many of us I sometimes write down a goal and fail to deliver, failure to figure out how I will reach it. Not only did I fail to reach this goal I failed to even attempt to reach it.
When I deliberated my goals for 2016 I still felt this was something I wanted to focus on so it remains one of my goals. This year to ensure my goal doesn’t just remains words on a piece of paper, I will create a plan and a daily habit that will help me touch my damn toes!
So here goes – the numbers don’t lie. From standing and sitting I am a full 10 inches from being able to touch my toes. 10 inches! In order to reach my goal of increasing flexibility I have decided to add at least 15 minutes of yoga to my day. I have had a yoga DVD for over 15 years that I just removed the plastic film off of recently. I have completed it for the last few days. On my days at home it is easy to incorporate 15 minutes of exercise into the morning routine. On my work days I will incorporate it into the evening routine.
Why you ask is touching my toes important to me?
For me, the big picture goal is not really the flexibility to touch my toes at all. It is to be healthy and strong; capable of any physical activity I set my mind to. I have bigger goals than touching my toes and some of them require I be in good shape. One of these is to go on a biking or kayaking adventure. I am physically strong enough for an adventure like this but I know it would be much more pleasurable to climb off my bike or out of my kayak and be able to stretch without my body screaming at me in agony due to intensely sore, hurting muscles.
So to recap… I am deliberately creating a habit that I will incorporate into my daily routine that will improve my overall health and wellness. I will do 15 minutes of yoga every day in order to be able to touch my toes so that when I complete my biking/kayaking adventure I will be able to smile at my accomplishment without crying out in pain.
What habits can you create to help you reach one of your goals this year?