I’ve Been Keeping These 5 Habits for 85 Days

And the challenge wasn’t how hard they are.

It was a late June day when I came across a new challenge by someone I followed on social media.

She was calling it #JustHardEnough and she had a number of habits to follow each day for 30 days.

I had the notion that I’d like to try out following some of them myself and seeing if I could do it for a full 30 days.

85 days later I have completed 5 daily habits that include:

• 10,000 steps
• 45 minutes of exercise
• brushing *and* flossing my teeth
• reading 10 pages of non-fiction
• drinking 80oz of water

There have been days when I didn’t believe I would actually accomplish all or any of these habits and yet here I sit, writing about them and how I am almost 3 months into doing them daily.

It amazes me really. Not that any of the habits are excessively difficult but more so?

That after so many days they can feel pretty boring.

Boring!

That has been the toughest challenge of the entire almost 3 months.

And I’m not alone, I’m absolutely sure of it. Keeping any habit for a serious period of time will come with its boring points. The desire to just not do it. You know?

It’s in these moments though that keeping it up is most important. Especially if you’re looking into the future and what maybe your habit can turn into.

I have ideas of my 10,000 steps turning into regular 20,000 step days. That my daily flossing could become a water floss habit and even better tooth care. That my reading will help me learn more to be better in other parts of life.

I’m not simply looking to stick with them all where they stand. I want to grow them and others. I want to grow myself along the way if I’m being honest.

And isn’t that the point? To keep growing, learning, exploring? It keeps life interesting and hopeful when you’re working towards a better possibility.

And it’s just taking some habits for a long period of time done over and over and adding in getting past the boredom of them. it’s not complicated but it’s not exactly easy.

But it is possible.