Unless you’re a nun, the word “habit”–like making going to the gym a habit–may send a chill down your spine, send you burrowing into your bedsheets, or make you want to throw up a little in your mouth. We may want to do something that we know is good for us but is hard and not fun. This dude has made much ado of making daily habits, particularly yoga, walking, and bicycling. I’ve been keeping those and several others every day for several years, and the yoga for over 10 years. I first alluded to these streaks with a mention of “Don’t Break the Chain” in a post referencing Jerry Seinfeld. Type “habits” in the Search bar of this blog, and you’ll easily find some helpful posts on the subject. The experiment to see how long I could keep things going has been interesting, and I continue with those three daily practices. But with other habits, it was only a matter of time before life intervened. It turns out that I’m only human, after all. Assuming you are too, I hope there’s something in here about habits that will resonate for you.

“April is the cruelest month, breeding
lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
memory and desire, stirring
dull roots with spring rain.”

― T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

Now it’s the end of May, and the winter of our discontent has morphed into a spring of suffering for us here in the South. This downward trend in my bicycling mileage began back in Februrary, when I was il with a sinus infection but had been told it was merely a virus. Then in April, Austin got a lot of rain and even some cooler than normal temps. That continued the first half of May, our rainiest month, and wet roads do not make for great or safe riding. So, weather has been a factor, and so has work, which involved walking A LOT in heat index temperatures as high as 116 degrees. I was trudging 35-42 miles a week, according to my trusty Garmin watch. That certainly plum tuckered me out and depleted my mojo.

Recent posts about my four and a half years of daily cycling (and being damn tired from doing that) and one on 10 tips for aging cyclists have been hints that A Dude Abikes, like everyone, inevitably slows down. This seems to be such a time. Maybe it’s a phase, or just a different way of doing things that’s more sustainable. I continue the daily three, but I’ve become a bit lax with some of my other habits: eating salad, practicing flute, reading, and writing. It’s not like the Guiness Book of World Records ever came round to verify any of them, or it really matters given the various wars, climate changing pollution, and distracting trial of a former president who is now a convicted felon.

Flute Happens

Practicing classical music for about 15 minutes a day has been for my own amusement and a creative outliet, but also to keep my brain in shape. When it’s late and I can’t play normal volume, I can blow lightly and produce virtually no sound. It’s enough to hear the tones but won’t disturb my housemate or neighbors. Lately though, I’ve missed multiple days because the soft-playing is not very satisfying.

Plus, I’ve been practicing the same old music I had back in high school. I’m okay with the break. Having a very old instrument also holds me back. I used to have a friend who played piano, and I never found someone else to do that with when he moved away. I’ve considered trying to get some music by Lizzo or Jethro Tull to jam along with. Maybe I’ll take lessons or join a community band someday. When I do pick up my horn, I feel more interested and have more fun with it, which is key (to make a music pun). I think about keeping it up long-term, and burning out isn’t good for that. I still love listen to a lot of classical and other music throughout the day.

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Reading Is Fun(damental)

After a long, dry patch wherein I’d gotten out of the book reading habit, several years ago I decided to read a book for half an hour a day. Some days I did more like an hour, if it was a good book. I alternate betwen fiction and non-fiction. Right now I’m making my way through the classic Catch-22 by Joseph Heller for the first time. It’s quite a lot more than expected, funny, and interesting. Some days I dip into Only Jokes by UK comedian Jimmy Carr and Emily Greeves. I recently finished Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers which I had never got around to when it was all the rage; I enjoyed it and maybe learned a thing or two. As palatte cleanserd, I read an old thriller by David Baldacci I must have missed and Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. All courtesy of the free little libraries that abound in Austin.

If it’s too late at night and I’m just not feeling up to reading, I may do less than 30 minutes. I don’t think I’ve missed any reading days, though. The good news is many days I read more than 30 minutes if I’m really enjoying it. In that regard I shared a habit with former President Obama, as mentioned in this blog post. Again, no one else cares if I read or not, but there’s always tomorrow (well, so far), and sleep is more important. The thing is that I made it a goal, began doing it, and after sticking with it, it became a habit. I’ve always read the news, but I’m again a guy who reads books, and that is its own reward whether it’s 20 minutes or 45.

Salad Days

In addition to all the exercise one thing I started doing for my health a few years ago was eating a daily salad. I’d been doing it daily for several years with extremely few exceptions (and those were for an extremely good reason). This was the first habit to fail, but I easily got back on track quickly. However, I recently found myself not continuinng the streak for longer periods. It was healthier to avoid the stress of dealing with a negative housemate situation than to have my daily greens and keeping the streak going. I probably could have powered through that and overcome, but some days one just doesn’t feel up to the battle. It’s not like I felt more virtous for doing what I should have been eating all along. I just liked being the kind of person who could honestly say–to myself mostly, and perhaps my few but appreciated readers–that I ate a daily salad. Maybe others would see or hear that and think, “I can do that, too.”

Streaks are nice, but ultimately unimportant. Now that I’m in a better place, quite literally, I find myself forgoing the roughage for other reasons. I’ve become a bit bored by them. As with reading, often it is too late at night by the time I get around to throwing those groceries down my neck. I still have salads, but if I miss a day or more here and there, so what? Nobody cares, and I don’t beat myself up over it. The Salad Police have not come ’round to issue me any citations, either. (True story: my maternal grandmother, who my brother and I called Grandmother, used to call salads “garbage.” I don’t remember why–maybe it was a trick to get us to eat them–but it was amusing.) The point is that the more reasonable goal is of course to simply have a salad at lunch most days. Maybe two the next day. A fruit salad, perhaps. Just getting more fruit and veg into the gullet is a good idea.

Writing Words Wregularly

After 666 posts, I dialed back my blogging to focus on revising my book. But the book editing process has become stale once I finished a second full pass of what is really so long that it’s two books in one. I still occasonally blog (obviously, since you’re reading one). It always takes more than half an hour, which I stretch over several days instead of trying to cram in three posts a week. I’ve kept a journal on and off for years, and was alternating that with the book, but I also began to lose inspiration for that. I started on a fictional story, but have not been clear which direction to take that lately. Occasionally a long email counts. My writing also took a hit when the critique group I was in disbanded. So, I’m, on occasion, a less than 30-minutes a day writer, sometimes more. Whoopy do! I’m mostly okay with that, but I think it’s a matter of burnout and lack of physical energy. Sometimes The Muse just doesn’t visit. Life goes on. Tomorrow is another day to tell our tales.

Lessons Learned

Overall, I’m still doing very well to do yoga, walk, and bike every day. (Follow me on Strava if you like.) Those three core exercise habits I intend to keep going as long as I can manage, or unless I lose consciousness. The rest of the habits daily are still goals that I accomplish most days, but they’re bonuses or extras. In reflecting upon my zeal to keep up the streaks, I probably lost a bit of perspective. I certainly need to be in the habit of making money daily if I’m going to be able to pay my bills. Sleep is also a priority, when it comes.

As with all habits, getting going is hard, and stopping is easy. That, in fact, is the main reason I started doing streaks. Skipping a day might lead to two, and so on. Having a few streaks come to an end has been a little disappointing. But not that much, and it’s also a bit of a relief. Here’s a little secret about habits: you can start, stop, restart, or reconfigure them at any time. One size does not fit all, the times they are a-changin’, your mileage may vary, you do you, and all that jazz.

There is freedom in habits–perhaps even the Buddhist concept of taking refuge within the structure of practice–there is also the potential for harm. Buddha said any habit pattern of the mind was not skillful. Although the guy did have a habit of meditating, he might not have been attached to it. Although a smoking habit, skydiving, or cycling habit might be fatal, the attachment to things, possessions, and behaviors, can also bring suffering. Balance is key. Challenge yourself but don’t overdo it either.

The discipline it takes to do all of these habits does tend to exhaust my supply of will power for other things. Simply put, having a regular habit is far more reasonable and sustainable. The habit should serve you, not the other way around. As life intervenes, it’s important to take stock of your habits. Keep what works, and discard what doesn’t. Revamp and reformulate, test and tweak. If you are struggling to form new habits, check out Atomic Habits. Here’s a quote from the habit man himself, James Clear, to end with and to inspire you. Good luck with your habits, whatever they may be.

“When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running. And a system can be successful in many different forms, not just the one you first envision.”

– James Clear, Atomic Habits

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