tiny habits

[oak]

Agreed with our dear friends: 1. thank you for your moderation 2. You Are Enough. You don't have to do or not do anything, day to day, to be a person of worth and dignity.

[manuel_moe_g]

Did my tiny habits, flossed three teeth after brushing (my tiny habit to floss is making my tooth brushing more regular), my voice sounds sad as i said three times "Today is going to be a great day!", what is that about?

I have to thank Beany, this is an amazing book, chapter 2 has a whole section on turning any Aspiration or Outcome into a workable, do-able plan, this book is going above and beyond!

Now I have the audiobook and the dead-tree version. Sometimes I listen and read along with books, because my reading ability for physical books is so weak, i have optimized my reading for screens only jumping from thing to thing, being patient with a physical book is hard for me now, so I need all the help I can get.

[oak]

Did my tiny habits, flossed three teeth after brushing (my tiny habit to floss is making my tooth brushing more regular)

Very good!

The other day I was going to recommend that you start with flossing one tooth a day. It sounds like you are very much on the right track.

[snoringdog]

Hello,

A couple of thoughts -

Habits and self image -

RG posed this-
"...without identifying those habits as defining self?"

And it immediately reminded me of Manny's kindly, welcoming statements to new posters to the effect that "you are not just a list of your symptoms".. etc.

There's who we ARE.... and what we DO, and they don't always align, which often brings self-recrimination. Need to keep them separate.... Damn difficult sometimes..

Tiny habits
So, I've tried the morning affirmation, and sure enough, there's something to it. Maybe it just pushes the negativity aside, before it gets solid footing.

But if the day starts to get wasted for whatever reason, it's possible to say "It's going to be a great afternoon", right? No need to write off the day if you stumble out of the gate... (had a day like that the other day).

Flossing & dental
Had a routine visit yesterday and damn, the anxiety to get there on time was out of proportion to anything warranted! WTF?! I don't mind going and haven't had anything significant in quite awhile.... Why the physical symptoms of anxiety? I felt ambushed.

Told myself that I could always call to reschedule if I needed to, which helped. Once I got there, it all dissipated...

Biggest problem with flossing is finding an easy way to do it.
Here's a website that has a list of options.

(The name "Electric Teeth" though
Anyone want to chew on a piece of tinfoil? )

https://www.electricteeth.com/best-flos ... ing-tools/

[manuel_moe_g]

Tiny Habits is pretty good book, still reading/listening.

[Beany Boo]

I’ve been applying it to my minimal ‘to-do list’ habit. I’m starting to discover that there are sweet spot moments in the week where if you place a chore to do laundry say, you can super-charge activities for the next couple of days after that.

Using the same principle, I set the alarm on my (old Casio) watch to go off at 7pm. It works well to remind me to start winding down for bedtime.

I’m also piggy-backing my cow’s milk habit with almond milk. Almond milk is delicious! I spent years thinking it was gross. You just have to shake it beforehand.

And my month-long daily plum and blackberry habit is starting to yield results. With just the change of adding them to my diet, I’m halfway to edging candy out. I’m noticing that my clothes feel looser too this week.

[manuel_moe_g]

This is the part of the book that stresses the importance of celebration done immediately after a tiny habit is accomplished.

I am a depressed person, so it is hard to manufacture on the spot a celebration that really makes me feel good.

The good feeling that one get after accomplishing something is called "shine".

Watch this space as I figure out how to make the feeling of "shine" after I perform an action that I want to make a habit.

[oak]

Very good. Please do keep us posted regarding shine.

[Beany Boo]

When you write ‘shine’, I wince and think that will use a lot of juice.

Please consider, ‘flashing’, or fading up to a manageable brightness - to mark the occasion - then fading down again, to carry on.

Manageable dosage and timing is the name of the game. In this case, a modest brightness for a brief time at the choice moment.

[manuel_moe_g]

"Shine" - definition - "positive feeling we get from experiencing success"

I can do little things to enhance feeling of "shine", because "shine" is what triggers the reward mechanism in my brain, makes be more likely to do the behavior again

therapist is excited about me trying out tiny habits, compatible with her thinking of how the brain works, how people improve, etc.

a short list of some "shine" enhancers:

• a memory - remember when in school i did a math proof successfully, my feeling of mastery was summed up by the words "correct and clean", i knew it was correct, and i wrote out each step very cleanly
• a thought - consider how your new habit helps you achieve your life's purpose
• an imagined image, an imagined sound - imagine seeing fireworks, blue twinkling of lights, see explosion and hear boom a half second later, explodes and forms a word: "Hooray!"
• a physical stance - stand tall, put arms in a big letter "V" for Victory