Everyday Systems

Last night, I didn't eat enough for dinner (which had been a slice of kosher pizza at my kid's summer camp family night -- blech!!), and was HUNGRY in the evening. Today, I didn't have a big enough salad for lunch, and am again HUNGRY.

The only thing keeping me from snacking in either case was my desire not to see red on the HabitCal. Last night, when I was tempted to eat, I went ahead and colored the day green, so I'd be even less willing to go back and change it. Why the prospect of coloring a box red on a calendar that no one else will see is such a big motivator, I have no idea. But it is.

So thanks, Reinhard!

You're very welcome! Thanks for letting me know.

I've been surprised myself at how helpful it's been for me personally. I created it because I thought it would help other people, and probably for the habits I'd already established before the habitcal it's not been really necessary, but it's catapulted my compliance for new habits. And I think it's been a little help even for long established ones ("glass ceiling" it's certainly been a help for).

Reinhard

Mistress Manners wrote:Why the prospect of coloring a box red on a calendar that no one else will see is such a big motivator, I have no idea. But it is.

Well *you* are seeing it and that's who needs to in order to be truly honest and accountable, not others.
I *love* HabitCal!
It's a great feeling, and requires so little time and effort to tick off a successful day, without all the bother of keeping a food journal.
Kind of like when your a little kid in kindergarten and the teacher gives you a sticky gold star next to your name on the wall!
Keep it up!
Debs

I agree, I love the being accountable aspect. I am totally honest here and I do stop and think before doing something - will I want to HabitCal or journal that?

Right now I could be eating chocolate pudding with Cool Whip (which the hubby will have shortly) but I took my bubble bath and drank a tall glass of icewater with a fresh chunk of lemon instead.

The HabitCal is indeed a very powerful tool. I have pushed through a few days with shovelglove and the thought of having a red square was a stronger motivator than all the benefits of doing shovelglove on those days.

Indeed, Habitcal seems to be a powerful motivator.

Lil' confession: I stopped using the online habitcal, and started the method in my personal journal of the bound paper type...

However, I was marking "SUCCESS" or "FAILURE" with my black gel pen. Blaahhhh.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that perhaps I can get my favorite gel pen in RED and GREEN too! Woohooo! hmmm, how about YELLOW? nope, no luck, they have ORANGE though. Maybe I'll get that, or perhaps a yellow pen of some other type.

Oh heck, I make the occasional sketch now and then, I may as well pick up a bunch of colors and transform my journal from black and white to full Technicolor!

I love that the default is GREEN.

Not only do I keep Habitcals here, but I also use green and yellow highlighters on my kitchen calendar which hangs on the side of my refrigerator. Not only is it highly visible for me, but everyone else sees it too! There's just something about making that big ol' green X over the date box that makes me feel really good right before I go to bed. Sometimes I mark it earlier in the evening if I am feeling "hungry" to keep me from snacking. Habitcal is a HUGE motivator for me!

Mimi

Although I keep multiple habitcals online, I also keep a hard copy for Vanilla No S--the real deal. Marking it on the big calendar in my bathroom with highlighters is a wonderful visual to keep me reminded of how I'm doing. Since I don't have a red highlighter, I have to use a red marker. . . which pretty much jumps out at me. . . so I try to avoid that at all costs!

guadopt1997 wrote:I love that the default is GREEN.

Me too!