Since going Paleo my family has fallen even more in love with our grill. Paleo and grilling just work well together. The past couple of years I've even been stepping outside my grilling comfort zone more and more. Grilling things I'd never thought to have grilled before and trying new flavor combinations. I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with the results of most of my flavor experiments. In the past I'd never have thought to grill fruit, but it's amazing. Grilling fruit and adding it to traditionally savory dishes? Brilliant. Oh yes, and? New rule: every burger recipe for the rest of forever must contain grilled pineapple. OK, maybe more of a guideline. It's a seriously delicious combination though. This Smoky Grilled Pineapple Burger is always a crowd-pleaser at my house. It's not only Paleo, but Whole30, glutenfree, lower carb, and clean eating friendly. I promise you won't miss the bun! paleo, grilled pineapple burger, smoky
I suppose it's that time of year again. The time of year we welcome in the shiny New Year filled with hopes and dreams for a fresh start. We sit down and make lists. Resolutions. Things we're going to do different in the coming year.
We make our New Year's Resolutions.
We make our New Year's Resolutions.
Unfortunately, let's be real friends, we don't tend to follow through with these New Years Resolutions.
I'm all for goals, but we all know that the majority of people promptly break their New Year resolutions within 2 weeks or so.
But not us dear reader friends. Not this year!
But not us dear reader friends. Not this year!
No, we'll go ahead and make a goals list. I think those are fabulous for focus. For direction. For setting our intentions. I make them all year round. But then, we won't stop there. Let's choose not to be in that percentage that gives up. Let's take those goals and turn them into actions. Actions repeated. Then repeated again. On and on and on. For 66 days.
Let's try a STREAK!
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Why a streak instead of resolutions?
Well, resolutions are usually generic "shoulds". Like, I want to "lose weight" I should "get healthy" I'm going to "make more money" and on and on. Which are all great goals, but they're too vague and often times overwhelming. They're not action-inspiring.
With resolutions we start out filled with energy and motivation from the New Year hooplah and then fritter out into hopelessness again shortly after.
With resolutions we start out filled with energy and motivation from the New Year hooplah and then fritter out into hopelessness again shortly after.
A streak however is action. Action focused on building the habits that will get us to our goals. Instead of focusing on a big, vague, sometime in the future event or occurrence a streak focuses on tasks. Actions we can take NOW. It's a complete shift in mindset that I view as a game-changer.
A streak builds instead of trailing off. A streak builds momentum instead of losing it. It builds upon itself. Builds energy and motivation with each step taken, each day x'd off. A streak builds confidence. It doesn't focus on numbers on the scale or zeros in the checking account. A streak focuses on tasks completed. The mindset shift is empowering. It's addicting in the best way possible. It's self-perpetuating. It's a game-changer.
But why 66 days? Of course you can streak for any amount of time you'd like, but I was reading in The ONE Thingby Gary Keller that, contrary to the 21 days or even 30 days that we hear, it actually takes an average of 66 days to build a habit. Hence, the 66 day streak!
But what to streak? Well, start with a goals list. Keep it relatively short. 2, 3, maybe 4 things you want to focus on this year. Focus on those things that will make the biggest impact on your life overall. Take your time and really think this through.
Next, take that list and figure out what you need to do every day to reach those goals. Boil them down to the littlest things. The daily actions.
Next, take that list and figure out what you need to do every day to reach those goals. Boil them down to the littlest things. The daily actions.
So, for example if your goal is to lose weight. Too big. Well, you need to change your eating habits and move more. OK, still too big. What exactly does changing your eating habits mean to you? Do you need to eat more veggies, count your calories, count your carbs, do a Whole30, measure your portions, drink more water... Those are your daily actions that you can turn into a streak. Same with exercising more. What does that mean to you? You want to choose things that are doable, actionable. Do you want to walk a mile every day, increase your overall daily steps, do a thirty minute workout DVD... Those are your actions. Now turn them into a streak!
I definitely recommend getting a paper calendar where you can actually make x's for the 66 days.
Again, I want to say you want to choose things that are doable, for you, and actionable. So, if you want to start running and have never ran before, choosing a 3 mile a day run streak probably wouldn't be your best choice. But, you can walk daily moving into walk/run intervals. Also, if you want to lose weight, choosing "lose two pounds a week" for your streak isn't really an action. It's an outcome. You want to focus on actions. So, if you want to lose weight your streak could be counting your calories every day.
For me, my goals are to lose weight, get back to running 5ks this year, keep my kitchen clean, and make more money with my writing. So, I've broken those down into doable action steps that I can turn into a streak. I'm not focusing on the entire year even, but on each 66 day chunk.
For the first 66 days of the New Year I will:
For me, my goals are to lose weight, get back to running 5ks this year, keep my kitchen clean, and make more money with my writing. So, I've broken those down into doable action steps that I can turn into a streak. I'm not focusing on the entire year even, but on each 66 day chunk.
For the first 66 days of the New Year I will:
- Run at least a mile for 66 days straight. Slow as it needs to be. Easy. Not stressing my body, but consistent.
- Track my food in whatever app I settle on.
- Move so that my step tracker reads at least 10,000 daily steps at the end of the day.
- Write (non-blog writing here) at least 15 minutes a day.
- Load my dishwasher and wipe down the kitchen counters every night.
- Work on one blog related thing each day. Even just a small thing like an image for a blog post, answering an email, or testing a recipe as part of a regular meal.
And? For accountability I'm taking that all a step further. I'm going streaking on Snapchat!
Beginning January 1st, every day for 66 days, I will share a snap showing that I've done each thing on this list.
Who's up for a streak? What one thing can you do every day? Want to take it over to Snapchat too?