In the Groove
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Forming Habits.
I’ve talked about forming habits in one of my earlier blog posts and I’ve used the things I learned from reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits - it’s a high recommend read from me. His ideas just make sense to me and I find them easy to implement. One of my favourite tips from him is to imagine how a person who does the new habit you want to build shows up - how do they dress, talk, eat, act - what is their identity. Then start building that new identity - so if you want to be someone who is fit - what does that person look like in your mind? For me they are someone who is regularly active, they make conscious choices about the foods they eat - they eat less processed foods and they are someone who balances working out with self care. Then I start dressing, eating and acting like that person - slowly over time - one step at a time I make a shift to the new person (and yes there are often backward slips too). My biggest challenge is not falling into a perfectionist mindset and becoming rigidly slavish to the “new identity” traits.
Capturing images of pelicans flying low at Frank Lake. (image courtesy of K. McIntyre)
I started out identifying that I wanted to be someone who could hold my heavy long camera lens for wildlife photography and in my mind that was someone who was fit - who had upper body strength and endurance, so I started to do progressive overload strength training. As I started to see muscle definition I added some other new habits like increased protein intake and I added Creatine to my morning water. I also practiced doing photoshoots with my gear to see my progress. It was so empowering to start to see my goals become reality and now I can’t imagine myself as someone who doesn’t workout or prioritize eating healthy levels of protein.
Each time I have an opportunity to photograph something amazing with my long lens I am thankful that I prioritized building my strength to enable this. I recall one of the first times that I went out with a heavy lens and a tripod - what a mess I was - fumbling to get things set up and almost dropping my camera several times because I couldn’t effectively balance it. Now I am much more adept at holding and maneuvering my gear.
Rituals
Now thinking about habits got me thinking about rituals - I know sometimes my brain just does a bit of a right turn, but stay with me here please. A ritual is similar to a habit, but it is more formal with a set sequence of actions, words or gestures that serve to mark transitions, create order, reinforce beliefs or form daily habits. They tend to have deeper meaning than habits due to the structure or context and personal importance in terms of defining identity and social bonds.
At first I was curious what differentiated habits and rituals in my life - what do I do that is a habit versus a ritual and were there any habits that would benefit from being more ritualized? Would I get more benefit from performing my habits as more rituals? Does it matter? Make a difference? The questions started swirling around in my head.
There are a number of benefits cited from performing rituals from reduced stress/anxiety to improved regulation, but the one that really resonated with me was how rituals benefit habit formation. That is they can be used to reinforce or anchor new habits by turning a series of actions into a repeated behaviour or habit.
“Stressed souls need the reassuring rhythm of self-nurturing rituals.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach
Home office work space. (EXIF data iPhone image)
When I still worked I had a number of important rituals that helped me to start and end my day well. First thing in the morning I would get a morning coffee and check my daily and weekly calendar to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming events. This was quiet time of reflection for me and helped to set me up for a productive day - when this time was interrupted (as sometimes happens) I often felt a bit off and it would take more effort to get into the rhythm of the day.
In the same respect clearing up my desk at the end of the day and organizing paperwork and files for the following day(s) also helped me to end my day and leave the office feeling ready for the transition to home. Days when I didn’t or couldn’t do this felt unsettled and I often found that I would take work issues home which didn’t make for a smooth transition to homelife.
Forming new rituals
Retirement gave me an opportunity to make shifts and form new habits and rituals around my new priorities and routines - remember those retirement fantasies I wrote about? I have found that these rituals have shifted over the three years of my retirement as I have refined what are priorities for me. Working out has become a cornerstone habit for me, but I found that during our recent renovations that this habit fell by the wayside. I wondered if coming up with a ritual around working out would help me to be more consistent with this activity.
Outdoor sauna time enhances working out. EXIF data iPhone photo
I have started to diarize working out - i.e., choosing times and days of the week to work out and put it in my calendar. Kory and I have also incorporated a sauna session with our workouts which means that when I go downstairs to work out my first stop is outside to turn on the sauna to heat it up. This gives me something to look forward to and also there is a time factor for working out (i.e., it takes about 40 minutes for the sauna to get to temperature). I have found myself looking forward to working out more since starting this morning practice and it has become part of our morning ritual.
Having a partner to share with a ritual helps with accountability and sharing the morning workout ritual with Kory certainly helps, but I know that I need to cement this habit for myself otherwise I will not continue if he isn’t there.
Planning Time
One practice that I find really helpful for being successful implementing a new habit is to incorporate time for planning and preparation (ok I’m an engineer and cannot help my love of being organized). However this really does work well for me - I usually take time on the weekend to sit down with my computer and calendar.
The first thing I look at is the weather forecast for the upcoming week (this will make sense in a moment) and then I look at our family calendar of activities for the week. I use this information jointly to identify and plan out our meals for the week. I have been using an app called Mealboard for quite a few years. I like the ease of use as it stores my recipes (I can upload online recipes rather than having to type them in the app), has a calendar for planning meals which can be printed out or sent electronically and a grocery list that can be used to automatically capture ingredients from the weekly meals.
I use the weather forecast and weekly calendar to determine what kinds of meals will work best (quick ones or leftovers for evenings with activities) or lighter meals when it’s warm etc. From my meal plan flows the weekly grocery list - I have the list of what I need from the recipes and I cross reference with what is in the pantry (deleting things that we have and don’t need) - I keep a running grocery list going as I find things that we’re running low on.
Weekly meal planning using my Mealboard app. (EXIF data iPhone image)
Doing these few things helps me feel well prepared for the week. It also means that I have a good start on my weekly macros tracking by knowing what the main meal for the day will be. This doesn’t always come together and I don’t stress when I’m not able to take this time.
I’m currently executing a macros cut (reducing my calories and macros for a 6 week period) and I’m actually using the weekly menu to pre-log my food for the day - I find that this helps me stay on track without spending a lot of time figuring out what I need to eat to hit my macros. This isn’t something that I will do long term, but for 6 weeks it’s a good way of reinforcing habits.
The fine balance
One thing that I find especially important as I form new habits or try to ritualize them is balance. It will likely come as no surprise that it is easy for me to slide over into to rigid control from setting up new routines - there is something about a checklist or a sequence of activities that gets me all geared up and then I want to do it more and more until it’s taking over my life. I try to notice when I’m starting to take things too far and I purposely introduce changes that make me adapt or change routines to accommodate new things in order to not fall down this slippery slope. When I’m able to do that I find myself in a much better space.
Creative photo using multiple exposure and ICM during a morning photowalk. (EXIF data 3 exposure overlay 1/6s, f22, 120mm, ISO64, 6 stop ND filter)
For example, my morning routine is usually waking up around 5 am and having my morning drinks (apple cider vinegar and lemon juice followed by flax seed and creatine) and then an almond milk latte. I take my latte into the library and I use my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) lamp in the winter time while I do my morning reading and journaling. I can get very stuck in this routine if I’m not careful, so I will change things up by shortening that routine to accommodate a workout/sauna or a photography walk which is usually associated with some weather event making it much less predictable. Making these pivots in my schedule helps to keep it fresh and not so regimented that I get bored or overly fixated on tasks instead of enjoying the things I’m reading or other morning inputs.
In the groove
I’ve been intrigued by the concept of being in the groove or what is sometimes referred to as flow - as opposed to being in a rut (the going too far and becoming rigid). When it all comes together and habits and rituals become effortless I find they enrich my life even more - making me feel a sense of lightness and ease with my life.
Do you have any specific rituals that help you to navigate or enrich your life? I’d love to hear about them in the comments or send me a note directly by clicking on the Connect With Me button.
A sense of flow when the light and drama come together well. EXIF data f6.3, 1/200s, 120mm, ISO4000
I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.
