Muscle Memory: Creating Habit

For 4 and a half hours a week, I sit at Velocity, a sports training facility watching my 12yr old. They complete exercises in agility, speed, strength training and more. Our bodies respond well to repetitive exercises. They become part of our muscle memory. This goes hand in hand with mental training and creating a new habit. It takes something like 40 days in order to create a new habit. This requires doing it over and over, regularly. It all makes sense but how many of us can make things a habit, successfully? Why is it that it is so darn easy to make bad habits? How about making it easy to create good ones? It just takes effort and time.

As I sat in one of his mental training sessions for baseball last year, I realized that everything they were teaching him applied to my artwork. So I asked the coach/trainer/ex-pro ball player if he had a workbook, a CD, something that would allow me to reinforce these newly acquired skills with repetition to create that habit. Thinking positively and putting out positive thoughts, emotions, and energy is harder to do in a society that is filled with negativism. Of course, he said nope…no follow up materials. As a teacher how can he expect it to take hold or work unless he provides some way to create a habit? How can we all create habit without some form of reinforcement…and where do we find it?

So, I thought if I commit it to paper…or erm…computer, then it might become a habit. So I’m going to make this a venue for creating a new habit. In March, I wrote our first newsletter which had a section about daily affirmations and the law of attraction. This came about because another artist turned me onto The Secret. Bear in mind that I don’t read unless it’s about art, fashion or design. I am consumed monthly with 10-15 magazines and every new book that’s out. That keeps me busy. So when she recommended a real book with words that didn’t involve pictures, I hesitated. After weeks of some idea nudging me in the back of my tiny little brain, I bought it and consumed it. It resonated with me, deeply. Next came The Law of Attraction. Another great book!

So have I actually made the time to create a new habit and do my daily Brain Spill and affirmations? NOPE! So this month, I said why? It’s about time management. So this newsletter has some tips for ways to treat yourself to “me time”. Time to allow yourself to create a new habit, to grow to evolve. We take classes on building techniques for jewelry, so why do we neglect the soul and developing our energy to create? Why aren’t there classes on that and would anyone take them? Why don’t we think it’s important enough to work on too? Because we think it’s easy and maybe not as important?

So when I ask you if you’ve done your Brain Spill or eaten your frog for the day(July newsletter), you’ll know what I’m talking about. My posts will be separated between topics (technical, creative, etc), so read what interests you. I’ll try hard to keep them brief, but as my husband says, I write in the style of Melville. He claims that there are a lot of words, and I go on and on, for much to long. Pfeuewy on him! I’ll let you decide!

Have a superbly positive day!