Introduction

Hello there! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Robert and welcome. Just to let you know I am not a certified personal trainer nor a registered dietician. I have no degrees in Psychology, Counseling or Philosophy.

I’m just me writing this blog. I am a 58-year-old pretty much bald, wears glasses and needs to lose a few pounds man. I am a type 2 diabetic. About 3 years ago I had a mini stroke (TIA) with no paralysis. About 18 months ago some random mosquito bit me and gave me West Nile Virus. Not only did I have West Nile Virus but unlike most who get it and have just flu-like symptoms, I had the extreme reaction. I was hospitalized 11 days. I had 2 major seizures and was unconscious for about 36 hours. Despite all of that I am back to normal (my family, friends and coworkers may deny I was ever normal).

Of course, like countless others I started thinking about 2025 coming up and what would I do to make it different. Some out there do resolutions, or set new goals (e.g. lose weight, exercise more) or quit undesirable habits (e.g. smoking, scrolling social media for hours). I myself have done that whole process. There is my graveyard of cookbooks, gym memberships, and fitness equipment to prove it. Before the new year began, I heard a lot about a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. So, I picked up a copy and read it in about a week. He brought up points that even though I heard about them I really hadn’t thought much about them or even thought about them at all. After an enjoyable read, I understood that basically its about getting 1% better every day. Now in reading the book I felt he wasn’t trying to set a mathematical equation. For example, if I ate 10 ounces of milk chocolate today I will eat 9.99 ounces tomorrow kind of thing. If for some reason he was I didn’t get that out of the book. Really, to me it’s about setting habits or routines or systems. Whatever you call it, it’s about progression, no matter how small, at least it’s something. I am not saying his book is one end all be all books. There is also good content in other books, on blogs and YouTube channels. Some may have a different take or approach to it, but many resonate the same.

I looked back on the years of my failed workout routines, the blown diets and host of other things. As I thought about it  I remembered seeing more than once on the web “Nothing changes if nothing changes”. How can I expect to make the changes using goals or methods that didn’t work in the past? So, I decided to form habits not goals. Build routines and systems. Goals were secondary to building habits. I thought of an example (maybe not the best) of building a bad habit. I didn’t develop a goal of eating junk food out of the vending machine at work regularly. Nope it turned into a habit that was easy to start and effortless to maintain. When I was bored, stressed or whatever I headed there with my money, out of habit.

I formulated a plan. I stayed out of the over planning weeds and just made a mental rough draft. Off I went. I figured out who I wanted to be and how that person would live on a day-to-day basis. I developed small habits (some, when you read them, you may think that they are so small) started taking down undesirable habits in small increments. I’ll adjust as needed to continue to make progress. Everyday may not be a win, but I will at least show up every day.

I thought about journaling to help me with progress, then it hit me. I bet I am not the only one who wants to try something new this year. Starting a community so to speak, a blog would be a fun way to share what I am doing and find people who are with me on this journey. Mind you I am not about blogging my habits to be a blogger; it’s blogging that is a way to help me keep my habits. That’s what I have in my mind at least, so stay tuned.

This blog isn’t aimed at men. Whoever can benefit from it, I hope you do. I’ll talk about food, exercise, appearance and whatever comes to mind in regards habits. I’ll let you know what I am doing and how it is going. On occasion I will try to interview family, friends and coworkers about their habits and what they are trying to accomplish. I’ll try to share, not lecture but I may throw in a few what ifs. And of course, my opinions will be spread in there, not that they are exclusive and right. I remember hearing a comparison of having opinions to having elbows. Opinions are like elbows, just about everybody has a couple. So be set for my elbows!

I plan on posting by the end of day every Sunday so you know when to look for content. I hope you can subscribe (I need some help with JetPack and my subscriptions if anyone wants to contact me that would be great!) Feel free to contact me with questions, comments or just about anything related to this blog  You can drop a comment too.

In the mean time if you haven’t read Atomic Habits, I would encourage you to. If you can’t, you can’t, its all good still. If you have wanted to read it but can’t afford to buy it and can’t find it at your local library, contact me, explain the specifics and if I can at all I’ll buy you copy and send it to you. I’ll try to do this once a month.

Until next time, keep those tiny habits going and always at least show up!