Ask HN: Habits that have lasted the entire year?

25 points by renaissance_tea 3 years ago | 13 comments

In a time of New Years resolutions, I like to bring up a question that reflects on not 2023 goals, but the goals you set in 2021 for the 2022 year.

For those who stuck with them consistently the entire year, what are some mantras, tips or mottos for those entering 2023 with a “fresh slate”? What do you do to stay consistent despite family issues, work deadlines, sleep deprivation and general malaise?

Asking for a friend ;) PS. Happy new year to HN and wishing you a healthy and satisfying year to whatever that entails

cocacola1 3 years ago |

One of mine was to listen to more music, so I decided to start working through Rolling Stones Top 500 albums list from September 2020. I’ve finished ~50 albums (and aim to finish more in 2023, especially as I’ve reduced my podcast listening.)

Another was getting in better shape. Some months were better than others, but on the whole, I expect I’ll be down 20 pounds by the end of the year. I’ve been doing a 60-90 minute workout ~4 days a week since January.

A third was to start making YouTube videos. I started with shorts in the beginning, and started doing lyric videos in September - basically, taking lyrics from a song, feeding it into Midjourney, and then cutting it together (https://www.youtube.com/syntopikon).

One that I faltered on was meditation. I noticed the days I did meditate, I’d be more focused. I’d like to redouble my focus on it.

paulcole 3 years ago |

Professional - Investing 30 minutes to plan at the start of each work day. I follow this system:

https://www.workclean.com/

I use a remarkable e-ink tablet and have a template file I duplicate and complete at the start of each day. I didn’t complete it every day but I think on average I skipped doing it 1 day a month. Part of the success is that I’d feel like a moron if I had this $500 tablet gathering dust.

Personal - At the start of each month I set (what I think to be) an achievable goal for activity for the month. This year I focused on 60 minutes of some combination of running/walking/bicycling. I have a chart that I fill in with a blue square on the days I make my goal and a red square on the days I don’t. My biggest setbacks were ~10 days of inactivity due to COVID in April and then about a week I lost due to some hip pain in September. Other than that I missed about 1 day every other month usually due to depression or particularly bad weather. Resetting a new goal monthly helps and creates a fresh start in case I have a bad month.

I’ve also read 76 books so far this year. I had set a goal of 52 at the start of the year. Mostly that comes down to finding things I think sound interesting, spending a (relatively) large amount of money on books, and making reading a priority.

There’s no magic to any of this. I have pretty modest goals and putting 30 or so minutes towards each of them everyday leads to pretty big gains over time.

nicbou 3 years ago | |

How do you read more than a book per week? I meed longer even with a really good book and a fairly light schedule.

paulcole 3 years ago | | |

1. I’ve always been a quick reader. I can usually get through a 350-450 page paperback novel in ~3-4 hours.

2. So if I aim to read at least 30 minutes a day on weekdays and then 2-3 hours a day on weekends, they go by pretty quick.

3. I had a week’s vacation back in May and ended up reading 6 books that week. So prioritizing reading when I have extra time helps.

4. If a book sounds interesting, I buy it without thinking about it too much. It shows up on my Kindle and then when it’s time to read I know I won’t waste too much time picking out and buying a new book.

soueuls 3 years ago | | |

You make reading your default choice to kill the time.

I read when in bed truing to sleep

I read if I am waiting for the friend or transportation

I read during boring meeting

I read 60 books this year, but this included Don Quichotte and Karamazov brothers.

tyroh 3 years ago |

What stuck with me are my wellness habits:

1) Regular push ups and planks, except when I was injured or on trips. 2) Tracking my diet which helped me lose 10 kgs. 3) Reading tech-related books which only stopped during crunch time at work.

I think seeing results is the main reason I continued these habits. I have tried some other habits like those related to finance or social media but since I could not see any results, they fizzled out.

For the initial push, looking forward to achieving your goals for your habits is crucial. Making sure they align with your own value set is key, so you don't slack off (or pick it up immediately when you do, and that's okay)

And another thing was making the habit small at the start. I didn't go full intermittent fasting or lifting weights since cold start doesn't work for me. It's easier to just improve on the habit as you get the hang of it.

jvanderbot 3 years ago | |

> And another thing was making the habit small at the start.

Absolutely this worked for me.

I have had good success sticking with "any exercise today" and "any project work today", even 5 minutes.

Try reading "Atomic Habits", but honestly the main points that stuck with me are: hack the cue, craving, response reward cycle.

1. Make it small, something you can do every day no matter what. 2. Set up a reward for each time you do the task

zamadatix 3 years ago |

It wasn’t necessarily a New Year’s resolution but I started intentionally walking extra. Not a crazy amount, not “I have to get <x> steps in today or I’m a failure”, not a reinvention of my entire health ethos or whatever… just avoiding sitting around so much. It’s a nice break away from things sometimes and my feet aren’t tired/sore when special events/trips roll around.

uptownfunk 3 years ago |

Lifting weight

Running

Cold shower

Mantra meditation (both alone and as a group with the whole family)

Reading scripture with family

The first three are for mental benefit, so that I can keep my cool at work and home, the health benefit is secondary. The rest are for inner fulfillment and is an instruction from my spiritual mentor.

Have a happy new year !!

stcroixx 3 years ago |

Is this common? I’ve never done this and the only indication I’ve seen are all the people at the gym in Jan/feb.

If ‘general malaise’ is common, I’d cut back n the annual goal setting, which sounds stressful.

derwiki 3 years ago |

Wake up and drink two glasses of water before coffee or breakfast. Always makes my mornings a little better.