I did something crazy

This week, I tried an experiment. I have an IPhone and an Ipad. They are both somewhat redundant, but I am trying to intentionally give a purpose to each one. For my phone, it’s using it as a phone (shocking, I know), texting, music, tracking my walking and Fitbit check in. I have a few other apps like my Bible, photos, but that’s pretty much it. My Ipad has pretty much replaced my computer to do things. In fact, I’m typing this blog post on my Ipad. None of this is crazy thing that I did.

The crazy thing that I did is that I took my emails off of my phone. I had found myself checking my phone, like many others, over and over and over again. Did this mean that I would be ignoring people that emailed me? Not at all. It was taking more control of my time and intentionally making specific times to check my email.

So what happened? The obvious. I didn’t look at my phone as much. Did I miss emails? Not at all. Did I get more control of one portion of my life? Absolutely.

Now, I’m not saying that everyone needs to do this, but what I am saying and encouraging people to do is consider their relationship with their phones/tablets and how they choose to use it. Minimizing distractions and focusing on what is important in minimalism, and our technology can most definitely be distracting!

Check out this blog post for more about minimizing your screen time.

Check out this blog post for information about the Uncluttered course

If you’re on Facebook, click here to join the Minimalist Musician Facebook group

Living in the moment

“Christopher Robin, what day is it?”
“Pooh, it’s today.”
“Oh good. That’s my favorite day.”

I had the opportunity to go with my wife and daughters last night to see the movie Christoper Robin. It’s an excellent movie, and that quote (as best as I can remember it) happens at the end of the movie. Without spoiling it, it’s an excellent movie that I knew would punch me in the gut and make me cry. It sure did.

So what does the movie have to do with minimalism? I’m glad you asked. Minimalism isn’t about stuff....completely. It’s about an attitude, a relationship with things, people, and your surroundings that frees you up to focus on what is most important. And when we’re at the heart of it all, what is most important is today. It’s what we’ve got.

This thought has been rolling around a lot in my head, but over this past week, it’s been so much more apparent. You see, my mom has been a widow since March of 2017. So I’ve been trying once a month to go visit her (she lives 3 hours away) and check in on her, do some projects for her, and give her some company. I went Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon. This trip had a fairly main objective. Go through my dad’s model HO gauge train stuff and figure out what I wanted. You see, growing up in Wisconsin, we had basements. And in the basement was an 8 foot by 8 foot train table that my dad built. I spent so much time with him putting cars and houses together, laying out track and tacking it down. And then, when my parents moved to Texas 17 years ago, no more basement. Not much space at all for the full train layout. So it sat. And sat. Funny thing is, my dad kept collecting. So in my excavating of things, I found buildings I put together by myself, buildings I helped my dad piece together. Even 2 buildings still in the box, not put together. Train track galore, even....more track that was still in the packaging! You may be wondering how model trains have to do with living in the moment. I am excited about getting my own train layout set up and running. It reminded me about those happy, simpler times of being a child, spending time with your dad, doing something fun. And it made me really think about what living in the moment looks like.

For each individual, living in the moment looks completely different. Even at different points in life, it’s different. When I was in college and just out of college, I wanted stuff. I got credit cards....I paid for that stuff on those credit cards. I didn’t care about the cost. Now, stuff just doesn’t excite me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for what I have, and I’m quite blessed. But I know that I have far more stuff than what I need.

Without giving too much of the movie away, Christopher Robin has grown up. He’s lost that sense of imagination and wonder. In his book “Love Does”, Bob Goff talks about it as “whimsy”. It’s the doing stuff just because. Christopher Robin is so focused on his work that even though he says certain things are important, he doesn’t show it in his actions and choices. And looking in the mirror, that’s the biggest gut punch for me. I know that I’m capable of doing that, and I know that I have. We all have.

So what does living in the moment look like for me? I’m figuring that out. I’m going to be trying to figure it out. I know it involves being sillier, laughing more and enjoying things as they come. Does that mean that I slack off on my responsibilities and duties or not do the best job that I can? Absolutely not! But, I know that it does mean that my attitude and my approach to those duties and responsibilities has to change. For you, living in the moment may be looking at similar things. Maybe it is different things. But I strongly encourage you to take a good long look in the mirror and remind yourself that today.....it is your favorite day.

Where to start?

So you’ve been looking at this idea of minimalism for a while now and it sounds great and all, but you’re not quite sure where to start. Great question! You can be paralyzed quite quickly and not be able to make any progress because you’re not sure where to start.

The easy answer.....PICK A PLACE! Start simple. Maybe it’s the drawer that you just throw things in. Here’s the thing....don’t just “go through” it and “organize” it. You’re just rearranging the junk and the clutter. What do you use and what don’t you use? What has value and what doesn’t? You can start with books. You can start with your kitchen utensils. It doesn’t matter where, just picking a place and starting is the most important place.

If you join The Minimalist Musician group on Facebook, I’ll be starting a challenge in August. It’s really, really easy. Each day, you choose the number of items to get rid of corresponding to the number of the day. So, August 1st, you get rid of one thing, the 2nd, you get rid of 2, and so on until you get to the 31st. On the 31st, you’ll have to get rid of 31 things. If you follow this, you will get rid of 496 items. That seems like a lot, but I think once you get going, you’ll see it’s not hard at all! I’ll be giving more details over the next few days in the group so we can get ready to start on August 1st!

How many shoes do you need?

This topic was something my wife and I go back and forth on from time to time. Recently, I brought the topic up and she told me. Black shoes, brown shoes, casual shoes, heels, flats...and she kept going and after that my head started spinning.

When it comes to things, this question of how many do you need is an interesting one. And I’ve gone through this in my life. How many CDs do I need? How many shirts do I need? How many.....you name it.

With minimalism, there aren’t really any specific rules. That’s part of the beauty of it. You’re in charge. For me, the question of shoes is simple. Black and brown dress shoes, running shoes, old running shoes to wear for mowing, causal shoes, and a pair of boots. I’ve got a couple of pair of flip flops, but I rarely wear them. Simple, right? And even that might be excessive to some. But that’s what I’ve chosen as my amount of shoes.

I’m not dogging my wife for her amount of shoes. She does have a lot of them, and over the years we’ve been married, she does do a good job of going through them from time to time to cull them. But whether it is shoes, clothes or anything else, it can be quite easy to justify and explain why we need to have so many of some item. And if we’re honestly asking ourselves the question of if it is needed or what number is needed, we may realize that we don’t need as much as we thought we did.

So...how many shoes do you need?

When plans change...

On Thursday, I wrote about what’s most important and not getting so wrapped up in the busyness of life that you neglect your family or anything else that is important. This weekend, I’ve been reminded of that even more. We were supposed to go on a family camp out but due to the threat (and reality) of heavy rains last night into today, the camping was canceled. So, we were left with a weekend that we expected to be busy, and now was much more flexible. What to do?

Friday was different. Instead of me planning to leave early so that we could go camping, I was able to get more things done. I even got to have lunch with my family, because my girls had an early release from school and my wife had taken the day off of work because of the camping trip. So that was a huge win right there. Friday nights are usually movie night. We ate pizza, the girls picked a couple of movies. And once they went to bed, my wife and I watched Justic League.

Saturday, we were going to skip my youngest daughter’s soccer game because of camping....but she got to play. Then we had contacted our realtor that since we weren’t camping, we could look at houses. We spent the rest of the morning looking at 5 houses. One was a maybe and the rest were ok. Then we went and saw A Wrinkle in Time, because my oldest really wanted to see it and we had read her the book. It was a fun movie.

Today (Sunday), I’m off from playing for worship. It’s been a relaxing, restful morning. We’ll be going to a couple of open houses this afternoon and then a pizza party at my girls’ school. All in all, a restful, fun, good weekend.

Why does all of this matter? Our weekends (and weeks) have been busy. Our upcoming weekends (and weeks) will be busy. Having time to rest, relax and spend time together as a family has been what we all needed. Would it have been fun camping? Sure. But it would have been work and not really as restful as what we got to do this weekend.

When plans change, how do you respond? By nature, I am a planner. I have learned to be more spontaneous and go with the flow. Sure, I’d like to have a plan, a direction, a way to go laid out even before I begin. But I’ve learned that it’s in those times where you are spontaneous, where you have the change of plans that you can really have fun, make memories and get refreshing. Have you had times when your plans changed? How did you respond?

Simple

In response to my post yesterday "Discipline and focus", I received a comment. It said "Wow, you mean the secret to getting things done is just doing them? And the cure for a lack of discipline is sticking to your calendar? Why didn't I think of that!" 

If eating healthy were so simple, why is the diet and exercise industry so large?

If keeping a neat and tidy home were so simple, why are there so many resources out there to help you, or how many people pay someone else to clean their homes?

If staying disciplined were so simple, why are there so many books about how to be more disciplined?

I don't ask these questions to argue, rather, to make the point that these things aren't as simple as they seem to be. While we may have the best of intentions to do things, there are other things that get in the way. Or, as was my point in writing the post yesterday, we lose focus. As I said, I'm awesome at being focused for short periods of time....and then I fall off. And I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

While I may have the best of intentions for my calendar, being a church music minister, things come up. Like funeral. The last 2 weeks, I've had 2 funerals to prepare for and play for. That takes priority over other things when it comes to practicing. 

When you work, when you have children, or even if you don't, maintaining focus and discipline is not the simplest thing in the world. If the secret to get things done is just doing them, then we'd have no problems. We'd be the most productive people on the planet. The productivity section in your local bookstore would cease to exist. If the cure for a lack of discipline is sticking to your calendar, then calendar sales would be off the charts! But neither of these are the case. Why? Because it's not that simple.

Life is a series of choices. Sometimes we choose well. Sometimes we choose poorly. I've made my share of good choices. I've made my share of poor choices. As I've grown older, I've learned that I don't have all of the answers, and I try to look to and lean on others for help. Because it's not that simple. 

So is that it? Just throw your hands up and say, "well, it's not that simple, so I'm sunk"? Not at all. My point in writing the post yesterday and this one is to share that while it isn't simple, you keep trying. While I did awesome in January at eating healthy and exercising, and staying focused, I didn't in February, March and so far in April. Does that mean that I'm sunk for the year? Of course not! It's only April! There's 7 and a half months to learn from those mistakes, make better choices and make progress. I haven't managed my time as well as I should have. Same point applies. And the same thing goes for you. It's not simple. But it's doable. And it's necessary. So I pray that you are able to find those things that bring you focus and discipline, as I pray that I am too. 

Discipline and focus

Yesterday I came across a post on Facebook which really hit me. It was “Clutter is no just physical stuff. It’s old ideas, toxic relationships and bad habits. Clutter is anything that does not support your better self.” There’s a lot to unpack, but I’m going to deal with what hit me out of that quote.

I’m awesome at something. I do really great at it. It’s a talent that I have.....but I don’t want to be that way anymore. What am I awesome at? Being focused, successful and disciplined for a short period of time. And then I fall completely off the wagon. Whether that’s exercise, practicing music, composing music, being organized and cleaning up regularly, blogging, and more....I’m awesome at being focused and doing great for short, maybe 2-4 week spurts....and then for whatever reason, I quit. I stop.

So how does it change? That’s the struggle. Of course the easy answer is, “suck it up buttercup”. But that only goes so far.  So what changes? What is different? I wish I could say there is a magic bullet that if you do this one thing, everything falls into place. Ain’t gonna happen. What it is going to take is a plan, focus and consistency.

So how do I exercise more? Well, back on about Ash Wednesday (February 14th) I quit walking. Why? I chose sleeping in. This morning, that changed. I got up and took the dog for a walk, even though it was cold (for Texas) and it’s going to be a long day. That’s even more reason for me to do it.

How do I practice more? I calendar it. And I stick to that calendar. This is one of the hardest ones because throughout my week, my schedule isn’t always “regular”. There may be meetings that come up, funerals to practice for (that’s happened the last 2 weeks after Easter) and more. So it’s a matter of doing my best and when I’m practicing, focusing on using that time as well as I can.

How do I compose more? That’s easy. Just do it. Actually, the laptop I’ve used to compose is a few years old and it’s run slowly....which, of course, works great when you’re fantastic at making excuses. Of course I made excuses to not do anything because of schedule, computer being slow, and really, honestly, what the answer is, I was scared. Composing music puts you out there. You’ll get plenty of rejections, non responses or tepid encouragements. I’ve gotten plenty of all of them. But I feel called to be a composer, so the only way I can call myself a composer is......to do it.

How do I get and stay organized and keep the house clean. Funny, right? Well, yesterday was my oldest’s 9th birthday. We got the house (and her room) cleaned. So, keeping up shouldn’t be too hard. It’s about doing a few things each night after the girls go to bed. Of course, moving (as we’re hoping to) will lead to even more of a focus and attention to organization, what needs to stay or go, etc.

And finally, blogging.....how do I do it regularly? Just like doing things before bed, I sit down and write out posts. Whether that’s going to be daily or a few days a week, that remains to be seen. But in a previous blog incarnation, I planned out the month coming up and topics to write about. That helped to keep me focused. With this blog, I haven’t. I’ve basically been spitballing, throwing things against the wall, and been unplanned.....and yet you still read it. So thanks for that! I know that I’m capable of giving you better ideas and information than I have in the past, and I look forward to doing it.

How about how? Where do you struggle with discipline and focus? What habits are you wanting to adjust, change or drop completely? Comment with those habits!

Are you a superhero?

In talking about expectations of self, as I did in yesterday’s post, one of the things we struggle with is that we expect far too much of ourselves and when it doesn’t go perfectly or as flawlessly as we think it should, we quit. I think it’s a superhero complex. We feel we can do everything, fix everything and everyone and still have time to make dinner. News flash: it isn’t going to happen.

I’m a church musician. One of the things that I’ve found in comparing my two very busy seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter is that Advent/Christmas is neatly wrapped up in a 4 week period, with two really big, busy days of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For Lent/Easter, it’s a 6 week period with a really big, busy week of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. Sure, December for everyone else is busy, and that compounds the hectic nature of the season. But I’ve regularly found that by the time Easter Sunday afternoon rolls around, I’m exhausted. It’s a good exhausted, but I’m worn out. And so today is the recovery. Sure, I could dive back in to the organizing and cleaning that I’ve wanted to do and needed to do. I could check things off my list. But today, my goal is to find the kitchen table, do dishes and laundry, find the kitchen counter and do yard work. That’s a good amount to do, but my girls are off of school today, so I wouldn’t be able to be a whirling dervish of work anyway.

So, to the question I posed in the title of this post. Are you a superhero? If you answered “I’m Batman”, nicely done. None of us are. So why do we expect ourselves to be? Give yourself a bit (or a bunch) of grace. Keep plugging away, little by little. Set your goals and your plans for the day to be achievable, but give yourself a reward. Maybe it’s watching an episode or 2 (not 20) of your favorite show. Maybe it’s going for a walk. Whatever it is, give yourself that reward for knocking out things on your to-do list. And keep plugging away. While you’re not a superhero, you’re still very capable of plenty of amazing and awesome things.

Expectations

I took a break from Facebook starting on February 14th. I didn’t miss it. That was intentional. Also on February 14th, I started an unintentional break from walking and from writing blog posts. In this time period of the last 6 weeks, I’ve had an opportunity to think about that word expectation for a while.

There’s really 2 expectations. The expectations you place on yourself and the expectations others place on you. I want to unpack that aspect of personal expectations for a bit. In his book “Finish”, my friend Jon Acuff writes about how we make goals for ourselves, the goals may be a bit unrealistic, or something comes up to change that status, and we end up quitting. He talks about it in a lot more detail, but that’s a lot of what happened to me. I quit. I’ll admit that. My excuses were noble. And somewhat legitimate. I got sick for 2 weeks in that time period and still had to keep going with work and life. But what about those other days? Why didn’t I make healthy choices or walk or better manage my time? The honest answer, as I’ve been processing through it is.....I just didn’t want to. But today is a new month. A new start. So what makes today different than any other day? Well, it’s Easter. That means that my 6 week period of Lenten busyness is over. So what? That will be replaced by end of school busyness was a parent, preparing my musical groups for a concert in May, working with my team to plan summer camp in July and many, many more things to do. On top of that, God willing, we’ll be finding a house to purchase, so we’ll have to pack up, move and get settled in the midst of all of that. I’m guessing that while you may not be in the specific boat that I’m in, your schedule is busy, too. So how do you balance and manage those expectations and that schedule?

I come back to one word again and again. Organization. If you’re on top of things and deal with them immediately, you will be less overwhelmed. Again, that’s something I haven’t done well, not just over the past 6 weeks, but for years. I know I’m capable of it, but it’s a matter of doing it. Organization is simple things like dealing with mail immediately, cleaning your kitchen counters before you go to bed, doing dishes and putting them away, doing laundry and putting it away immediately. Those things may seem simple, but after a long day, you may not have the “want to” to do it. You’ve got to do it. Of course, there’s the bigger things like going through your clothes, books, digital files, etc. and while that takes more time, it is most definitely helpful and worth it.

One of the things I did on Friday at my desk before I left was to make sure that the top of it was picked up and organized. That way, after my hibernation tomorrow, I can dive into things on Tuesday and not have to be stressed about starting with my desk.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be dealing with this topic of organization and what it looks like and some simple and easy things to do. I hope you’ll keep checking back and also commenting with your ideas and tips for what works for you!

Getting overwhelmed

You’ll notice that the last blog post I wrote was on February 16th. This post today is March 10th. What happened in the almost last month that led me to not write? Simple. I got overwhelmed. With life. With everything. And it sucked. Big time! You see, I’m a church musician. It’s Lent. It’s a very hectic and busy time. We’re also looking for a house to buy. And so my life took on its own direction, spinning quickly out of control. Walking didn’t happen. Surviving the day became the goal. And it frustrated and angered me to no end, but I couldn’t really do anything to control it.

So what has changed? This week is spring break for my wife and girls. I don’t have as much going on over the week, outside of working ahead to get ready for Holy Week and Easter. And along with that, I’ve already been and will continue to figure out how better to get a hold of my schedule and my life. I’ve gained weight. I’ve been out of regular exercising for almost 3 weeks. I feel like my most productive thing I’ve done over the past 3 weeks is survive the day each and every day.

We all face those moments of being overwhelmed. How we respond is imperative. I could throw a pity party, say “woe is me”, but what good is it going to do? I’m blessed in so many ways. I can’t complain. And what I need to do is to figure out how to maneuver through the busyness of life and not just survive, but thrive. There are things I want (and need) to do like lose weight, pack up our house, get rid of stuff, write and arrange music and write books. That’s a lot to bite off, isn’t it? It’s overwhelming, but not impossible. Today, I’m not doing anything but intentionally resting. And it’s already been wonderful. Stepping back and breathing.

One of the most important things in all of this is to give yourself grace. While you may get overwhelmed, it’s a learning experience. Kind of like when you learn not to touch a hot stove, or are around sharp objects. If you touch them, they’ll hurt. So you learn what not to do. But more importantly, you learn what TO do. That’s called growth, and it’s something we need to be quite regularly doing!

So how do you cope when you get overwhelmed? Do you step back, reassess and strategize? Or do you push even harder? Or give up? Or do something else? Maybe curl up in the fetal position? What I have been reminded of in the past week is that work is hard, and nothing comes without work. And while sometimes that work can be overwhelming, it takes intentionality, focus, and support from others. You can do it!! And so can I!

Social media

Today is Ash Wednesday. Many Christians practice giving something up for Lent. Today, I’m choosing to give up social media. And I want to spend a little time talking about social media and the benefit and the time sucker it also can be.

What are the benefits of social media? You can keep in touch with people that you haven’t talked to or seen in years. At a glance, you can keep up with lots of people. You can get exposure to lots of ideas and insights from others.

Why is it a time sucker? Well, it just is. The keeping up with others, the “conversations” or arguments that go on can suck so much time. And there are many, many other reasons.

So why am I giving it up for Lent? Well, I’ve spent January focused on eating, I’ve spent the end of January and February focused on exercise, and social media is something that I’ve let distract me from lots of things in life.

The “experts” on blogging would say that it’s pretty silly for me to start a blog in December, and about 2 months after starting it, basically quit the one form of getting the word out about it for 40 days. But after thought and prayer, I feel that taking a break from social media is what I need to be able to gain focus in my life. To be able to really start honing in another aspect of discipline in my life. So, after I share about this post on Facebook and Twitter, I’ll be logging out of them and not posting until after Easter. What will I gain? Obviously discipline. Focus. Time. Happiness. Figuring out what’s most important. And those are things I look forward to.

So I’ll still be blogging every Monday, Wednesday and Friday....but I won’t be sharing it on social media. So please do keep checking out the blog and share about it!

Week 5 check in

I could subtitle this post “The new me”. Or I could subtitle it “You’re not defined by your mistakes”. Read on and I’ll explain. I blew it last night. I ate horribly. I’m guessing many of you are waking up feeling that way. The “old me” would have wallowed in self-pity, made excuses and ate some more. Most definitely wouldn’t have exercised. Today, I got up at 4:30, walked the dog, ran a bit, and have been drinking water. While yes, I didn’t eat great for 1 meal....it’s just that. 1 meal out of 21 for the week. See, this is where my thinking has radically changed. I had eggs for breakfast yesterday, I had a salad for lunch. I budgeted to eat badly. And I did. But, that doesn’t define my week. In fact, it pushes me to be even more on track. I had my meal of overindulgence. It was good. Now back to eating right.

So how about you? Maybe January wasn’t the best. Or your February isn’t off to the best start. You can fix it. You can start now. Because it’s about the choices you make.

I realized I didn’t share with you my goals for February. So my main goal in January, the Whole30, was a success. My goal for February is to continue to follow the guidelines, eating right and trying to add in more exercise. I started the couch to 5K app last week and while I’m doing a 5K on Saturday, I’m not going to be able to run all of it, but my main goal is to run the 5K I’m doing on April 7th. That’s one I’m working toward. My other stuff goal is two fold. I didn’t quite finish in the garage in January, but our youth at church are having a garage sale, so I can take stuff up there. Along with that, I want to tackle the office. It’s a mess. So that’s my 2 main goals for February.

So where are you at this week? Has your 2018 been off to a great start? We’re only 5/52 into the year, so you’ve got time. Get after it!

Oh, something random I decided to do last week. I recorded some music I’ve been working on and uploaded it to Noisetrade.com. You can listen to it for free or download it for free there. http://noisetrade.com/craigharmann/lent-and-easter-demos

It’s up to you

As I’ve spent the last couple of days reflecting on a productive January and a success at Whole30, I was reminded of a truth that I forget all to often. Whatever your situation, you can make choices to change the circumstance. I was very, very, very unhealthfully overweight. I still am. But I am less overweight because I have changed my circumstance. I started focusing in on what I’m eating, exercising and there are results happening. As for the stuff around our house, there is less clutter and that is progressing daily.

Now this can absolutely seem overwhelming, right? No doubt about it. We see “quick fixes” sold all the time in regard to health. “Drink this shake 2 times a day and you’ll lose the weigh. Oh, did we mention that each shake costs $12.50?” There’s no quick fix. None whatsoever. It’s much easier to put weight on than to take it off. It takes intentionality to lose the weight and even more intentionality to keep it off. But it’s possible. So do you go out, get a gym membership, throw out all the unhealthy food in your kitchen and get to work? Well, that’s a little drastic. Baby steps are the way to go. Anytime you try to do too much at once, you’ll get overwhelmed. Start this way. Instead of 5 sodas a day, go to 3. And incorporate more water. Or instead of trying to find the closest parking spot somewhere, park farther away. You’ll get more exercise in. Starting with little steps changes your mentality and creates new habits. Or (GASP!!) instead of 4 cups of coffee, have 1 and maybe 2 cups of green tea. You get the point. Little changes make a huge difference.

The same thing goes with your stuff. You may feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. That’s OK. It’s up to you. You’re in charge. Maybe it’s just starting by cleaning off your kitchen counters and keeping them clean for a week. A small habit, then you add to it. Then you take the next step. That could be books, CDs, clothes, whatever it is where you feel cluttered. Go through and ask, “Do this have a definite purpose in my life?” And if that answer is no, get rid of it. If the answer is I’m not sure, put in a box and put the box aside for a while. If you don’t find yourself needing it or thinking of a purpose for it, get rid of it.

Little steps are the biggest way to make a change. It’s up to you. You can do it!

Week 4 check in

Wow! We’re 4 weeks into the new year! How have your goals and resolutions gone? Did they go by the wayside? Or are you still going strong?

For me, with my primary goal, it couldn’t be better. I’ll give a more detailed wrap up of Whole30 in my post on Wednesday, but I feel amazing. My clothes fit and people at church yesterday said I should be called “The shrinking man” and “Slim”. I don’t know if I’d go that far.....yet, but I do notice a difference. I have plenty more to go, but slow and steady wins the race. Except that my slow and steady plan of losing 8 pounds by now (2 pounds per week) was totally blown out of the water by losing 16.6 pounds. Now, I knew I’d probably lose more than 8, but had I made my goal 20 pounds, I’d be frustrated and probably quit, because I “failed”. Nevermind that I’ve lost weight, clothes that I couldn’t wear now fit comfortably. My psyche would have told me that I missed my goal and I was a failure. That’s what my friend Jon Acuff talks about in his book “Finish”. When you’re setting goals, you want to have your goal, then cut it in half. When you feel like you’re beating that goal, it helps motivate you to continue on. But the Whole30 has helped immensely with that. More on that on Wednesday.

As for my garage project, that didn’t get much done on it this week. But it has definitely improved since the 1st of the year. There is less stuff and more space to walk around out there. And there has been progress inside the house as well, because of the colder weather outside. But there’s lots to do as we have our deadline to be out of this house by the end of June. Plenty will get done! It will just take the same process as losing weight. Slow and steady.

So how about you? What were your goals for this month? What are your goals for next month? What’s your plan to be successful? Mine are to lose 8 more pounds, and to bring order and decluttering to our home office, which is a total catch-all space. Comment with what you’re going to be working on or your success story from the past 4 weeks!

What really matters

I had a conversation yesterday with our organ repair guy that returned me to the question in the title of this post. You see, his 22 year old son was diagnosed with leukemia before Thanksgiving. He had told me that previously, and I was talking to him about an issue with our organ. I asked him, “How is your son?” And he told me all of the details. They have a bone marrow donor and the prognosis is good. But he said something that triggered my thoughts. He said, “I’ve been going just one day at a time.”

Isn’t that really what we should be doing? We plan, prepare and get stuff and hold on to stuff. And where does that get us? Now I’m not saying get rid of everything. There is a need for things, but when you ask the question, “Does it really matter”, that puts a lot of things into perspective.

As I posted yesterday, my girls were off of school for the past 2 days because of ice. I was able to get some work done, but I was also able to spend time with my girls, along with my wife. That is at the core of what we have to figure out. What really matters. What is most important. Yes, we need to work. Yes, we need to be responsible and diligent in everything we do. But we also have to think about what really matter and what is most important in our lives.

So how do you figure that out? That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? You could make a list, if you’re a list maker. You could write out note cards and put them on your refrigerator or mirror. Whatever you choose to do, it’s up to you and you can remind yourself and keep yourself focused on what is most important is however you choose to do it.

Change of plans...

How well do you adapt when plans change? I’m awful at it. I’ve gotten much better as I’ve gotten older, but still there is this internal temper tantrum when things have to change. Outside, I’m pretty cool and comfortable. But what does plans changing have to do with minimalism?

We have our plans and our ideas and goals that we want to accomplish. Most of the time, they don’t always go in that straight line that we’ve planned or projected. Usually it looks something like this:

We have those ups and downs along the way. Those slow downs and get back to its. How we respond is important to how successful we will be. This has been on my mind a lot over the past couple of days. Monday, my girls were off school for the MLK holiday. I forgot that my wife was off as well. So I was able to do more in the garage and outside than I had originally planned, which was fantastic. I knew it was going to get cold this week and there was a potential of freezing rain and ice, which is not normal for Houston. And Monday late afternoon, school was cancelled for everyone for Tuesday. And it got nasty outside. For Texas. But because it was cold, working in the garage wasn’t going to be the most fun or really most productive. I needed to work inside. So I started working in our office. I dealt with files and paper that needed to be dealt with. Of course my work to-do list got much longer, but I was able to get a few things done remotely. Organ practicing for Sunday morning...not so much. I don’t happen to have an organ at my house! And now we fast forward to today. ANOTHER day off of school. It’s still icy, but should clear up by later today. So I’ll be able to get out, but even this morning, I was still able to work on some more projects. The girls got their rooms picked up yesterday, so that’s a huge first step for them. But the garage still sits.

The garage was my goal for the month. Now, I could pout and be frustrated that I didn’t get much done in this great extra time I had. Or, I could stop, take a breath, and realize that there are still 14 days left in the month, and warmer weather to come. I’ll have time on Monday, and the following Sunday/Monday. What I want to get done will happen. I just have to be patient and go with the flow. But gosh, that’s really hard. Tomorrow morning, everyone will be back in a normal routine and our 2 day work/school week will commence. But it’s all about being adaptable and able to change with how life goes. You can do it!

The first step

It’s said that the first step is the hardest. And while that may be true, the first step in making a change isn’t that hard.....once you decide where that step is. Most of the time when we look around our houses, our lives, our whatever the case may be, we can become overwhelmed and paralyzed. So, we hesitate to change. Or, we feel like the change must be immediate, sweeping, overwhelming and done quickly. But here’s the reality. Any change has to happen slowly and over time.

So, where do you take the first step? Great question. Don’t think about it too much, just pick a spot and start. Whether it’s a drawer, a shelf....something. And then keep at it. Little by little, you’re going to make those needed changes.

Or maybe you’re looking to make healthy changes. That’s not too hard. Instead of looking for the closest parking spot, choose one a little farther away. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Swap out that “sweet treat” for some fresh fruit. There’s lots of simple first steps that you can take.....literally!

The whole point is building good habits. A lot of times those habits are built by avoidance and procrastination. Or simple laziness. My youngest daughter is 6. She doesn’t put things away in her room and consequently, the floor is typically littered with stuff. She only wants to pick up with “help”. A couple of days ago, she and my wife spent a whopping 20 minutes and her floor was clean! Now, is it still clean? It’s walkable, but there’s a few land mines to be avoided. But, even as adults, we can be that way. “It’s going to take so much time” we may say. But in reality, it only takes a few minutes, and then we’re free to read a book, watch Netflix, or whatever we need to do!

So what’s your first step today? Comment with your first steps and let’s encourage each other to keep going with those little steps every day!

Happy New Year!

I know, we’re already 1 day into the new year. The past couple days I wasn’t feeling all that great, so I was resting and spending time with my wife. But today, I’m back at it. So how about you? What are you going to tackle and take on today? Is it going to be stepping on the treadmill for the first time in a while? Is it going to be taking on your closet? That catch all drawer? Whatever it is, here’s a couple of suggestions to help you.

Simple is key. Instead of starting with the entire closet, start with a part of it. Once you get that done, then your goal is to get to the next part. That whole idea I wrote about on Sunday of bite-sized goals. Make it manageable and easy to achieve. My way of breaking my weight loss goal down into bite-sized goals was a weekly 2 pound goal. Now yesterday was a date day with my wife and no children. We had lunch at a steakhouse, had massages and watched The Greatest Showman (I highly recommend it!) So, yesterday, for my breakfast, I had a fruit smoothie with frozen fruit, almond milk, coconut oil and Greek Yogurt. I had a 6 ounce steak for lunch, and sweet potato fries (which I only ate half of). And we did have an appetizer of jalepeno shrimp things which were delicious. But we only had 4 between the two of us. For dinner.....I had popcorn. Yes, popcorn. But here’s the crazy thing. Yesterday morning, I stood on the scale to get my starting point for the year. 280.6. Today, I stepped on the scale....278.6 And that’s without starting my Whole30 eating (which I am today). And exercise, which I’ll be adding in as well.

The other thing that we forget about is making it fun. Jon Acuff did a great job of writing about this in his book Finish, and I think that’s something we lose sight of. Whatever we’re doing has to be drudgery because it’s “work” and it’s “cleaning up” or it’s “getting healthy” or whatever you want to call it. But seriously, if you want to get some serious cleaning done.....put on some “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor and get that stuff knocked out! Or before you workout, make yourself a motivational playlist that’s going to get you going. Music helps lots! Or maybe once you get that small goal done, you give yourself a small reward, and once you get that big goal done, you give yourself a big reward! You know you better than anyone else, so you have to decide what is going to motivate you to do it.

So start small and have fun!Bite sized goals