“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see, and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
~ Joan Didion
As I go through my days I’ve been trying to figure out my key dominos.
Let me explain.
If you’ve ever set up a row of dominos just right, you know that you only have to knock the first one over for all the others to fall. Even a tiny domino can knock over a very large one, if you set them up right. Now think of tasks and projects the same way. What task can you do that will cause all the others to happen (a.k.a. fall) automatically? That way you only have to remember to do one task for all the others to be completed.
This rather well-known speech suggests starting by making your bed. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sBAqF00gBGk&pp=ygUebWFrZSB5b3VyIGJlZCBzcGVlY2ggbmF2eSBzZWFs While it is a good one, and I recommend it, it doesn’t tend to make many of my other dominos fall. I’ve discovered that I seem to have… hmmm… several groups of dominos that need to be taken care of, and each has its one starting domino. Here are some examples of ones I’ve discovered so far:
Making the bed first thing in the morning does give me a sense of accomplishment. It makes me more likely to tidy up a couple of extra things while I’m at it. I find that having a tidy bedroom gives me a space that feels like I have room to breath, to de-stress, and I often find myself going in there to do just that. If nothing else is accomplished, I do like going to bed in a nicely made bed.
Journaling in my private journal reminds me to blog. Writing my blog then reminds me to do the things on my list of goals. So, I do some repetitions such as pushups, sit-ups, weapon form, etc. Doing any one of my reps or forms makes me more likely to do another one. Yesterday, blogging reminded me to reach out to a friend, because nurturing relationships is on that list.
Doing the dishes right after dinner, especially if the whole family is helping, usually results in other things being put away and tidied, and surfaces cleared and wiped down.
Decluttering has made it more likely for things to be kept clean and tidy, not just by me but by other family members too.
There are probably others yet to be found but as you can see journaling has once again demonstrated how impactful it can be since I have found that it is a key domino for starting off a chain reaction of quite a few other things. Thus, one of my most important key dominos is to remember to journal and the other things may take care of themselves.
“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
~ Louis L’Amour
Numbers
Pushups/equivalent: 2542
Sit-ups/equivalent: 1857
Weapon Form: 281
Hand Form: 288
RAoK: 91
Sparring: 145
Kilometres: 1203
Memorize “Mastery”: unchanged since yesterday
Nurture Relationships: unchanged since yesterday.
Blogging: 30
Declutter my life: unchanged since yesterday
Great Coat project: unchanged since yesterday
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