Oh, shocker, I’m back to struggling again. I definitely think that the project I selected was too broad. It’s not too late to change, it but I know it’s the big one that I need to work towards all the time: getting healthy. I have, made major steps this week which is great, but I’m still wondering where I am on this project. I’m still enjoying the meditation portion from Week 1 and will keep with it at 10 minutes for now.
This week, as part of Chapter 4: License to Sin, McGonigal asked to do a lot of reflection, like in the past few chapters and it definitely hit home a bit more this week than in the past. So clearly, the incremental steps are working. The Under the Microscope section really hit home for me this week. I definitely congratulate myself for making instrumental steps but I don’t hold myself accountable; I put things off to tomorrow and let myself eat unhealthy and be lazy because I’ll make it up later; I eat more of something when it’s fat-free or low-fat, or I know I’ll be going to the gym later; And thankfully, I do know that the real-me wants to get healthier and that I HAVE to learn how to control my unhealthy urges and laziness!
But on that note, I had a great week and the Willpower Challenges really helped. The two challenges this week were: to revoke license and remember why and reduce the variability in behavior day-to-day.
For the first all I had to do was think back to last year when I crossed 100 days of exercise in a row (LOTS of walking) and January where I worked out 4-5 a week every week! The weather has really messed me up and I just let it get to me, but with the days already getting longer, I knew I had to stop making excuses and so I did. I made it to CrossFit two days and ran for two days this week. I’m still paying for it, but I’m glad I started back up and will keep the four, and hopefully back up to five, days a week.
The second was a bit more difficult because of my long workdays these past few weeks, but I’ve already started moving towards a less variable morning. With going back to CrossFit I have to get up by 5:30 and so I’ve set that as my morning goal and I have to be in bed by 11:00 at the latest (late work remember) and it’s definitely helping already. I’ve found the struggle to get out of bed so much less this week than in the past few. I’m going to keep it up and we’ll see where it goes.
This coming week will be the half-way point of this project. And for that week, I’ll be doing Chapter 5: The Brain’s Big Lie: Why We Mistake Wanting for Happiness.
Check out previous weeks’ posts below:
6 thoughts on “The Willpower Instinct Project – Week 4”