As per usual, I am excited by yet another self-help, personal development book… 

If you are new to following, I re-discovered my love for reading when the pandemic hit- in large part due to a bit habit shift. My girls were sensing the collective anxieties of the world (and let’s face it Aki and I). 

Bedtime became a huge struggle and despite having just redecorated their shared room, they moved back into our bedroom. 

To this day, they are still sleeping on their twin futon mattresses on either side of our bed. <shrug>

That said, this lead to more time for reading since watching TV after bedtime was not an option any longer. 

I want to walk through this behavior change from the perspective of the Tiny Habits teachings. 

In my case, crawling under the covers prompted me to reach for the remote control. 

BUT since my kids moved into Hotel Wada.. this was no longer something that I had any motivation to do because it would wake them up or prolong the time it took for them to fall asleep. 

I was highly motivated to get my kids to sleep as quickly as possible with a dark quiet room. This also required my presence in the room… because kids. 

Brainstorming solutions: 

I considered all the options I had for how to spend that time while awaiting their slumber. List these down and consider how much motivation is necessarily AND your ability. 

Unfortunately, many involved light (reading an actual book, crocheting, cross stitching) or leaving the room (cleaning up downstairs, doing some work, working out). 

I settled upon the idea of reading on my phone. This worked out ok but many times I would find myself back on social media and at the time I was trying to avoid things that would increase my anxiety… 

So I considered how could I make this easier on myself. 

I considered how I might be able to still read but without my phone- something I knew would be an ongoing distraction. 

So, I ended up purchasing an e-reader. 

Now nearly 3 years later, I have continued my habit of reading for about 20-30 minutes before falling asleep nearly every night. 

I use this time to explore other worlds, be inspired by others’ lives, and to learn. 

I look forward to these moments. 

And it all started with a very simple swap with my prompt, breaking it down to a very simple behavior that was nearly impossible to “mess up” and provided me so much joy and benefit.

I get so excited to use these tools to help my coaching clients make these simple sustainable and attainable swaps along with empowering through education in my group coaching program with Jen. 

We are getting ready to kick off a new cohort and would love for you to join us! We love helping our clients make these the same monumental shifts without restrictive diets or turning their lives upside down. 

To learn more and to get enrolled before the pre-sale pricing expires click here. 

 P.S. ICYMI, did you know I created a list of all of my favorite books? You can download it here.