Accomplishment really isn’t hard when you are consistent. I see the benefit of taking regular action every day in my life:
- I am reading a book to my wife at night.* Yes, out loud! At first I thought it rather unlikely we would get through it, since it is about 430 pages. But we are near page 150. We are enjoying ourselves.
- We are working through the complete “Northern Exposure” DVD series, one or two episodes at night. We are now in season three.
- A few months ago, my wife and I started swimming at the local gym. At first I sucked, awkward and out of practice after not swimming in a long time. But I trusted that it would get better. I have gone two or three days a week since, mostly swimming freestyle. I have experimented with breathing on my left-side and bilateral breathing. So far I prefer breathing on my right side, which I’m used to. Today I swam for about 20 minutes, shorter than usual because I ran for 15 minutes this morning.** I used a pull buoy and hand paddles. The laps were mellow and easy-going.
- I composed every day for nearly seven months last year, writing close to 150 new pieces. In this case it helps that I’m also very good at composing. But without the dedication to do it day after day, I wouldn’t have written all those pieces.
- Last year I ran 1351 miles in the first 11 months of the year. It was the second-most miles I ran any year, and I didn’t run at all in December. I started the year intending to run regularly. One mile at a time, they add up.
- I’m on Day 175 of my 2nd 365 Day Blogging Project, which I accomplished similarly: one post at a time.
- When it comes to personal finance, we continue doing what we’ve done for years now: manage our money smartly, balancing spending in the present with saving for the future.
In every case, it’s the same principle at work: just keep going! “Slow and steady wins the race” reigns supreme in my world.
Step-by-step to the Promised Land!
*It started a few weeks ago when the power went out, the first of two two-day outages. I entertained my wife, who was sorely missing access to her phone, by reading to her. The book we are reading is called “Body & Soul“ by Frank Conroy.
**Currently I’m limited to 15 minute increments of running, as I am recovering from an overuse injury.