It’s my 30th Birthday today! And wow what a day it’s been. I decided to get up early to rock the world of productivity today. Recently, I read a really interesting (though certainly not revolutionary) article on breaking habits (here). It described the critical habit conditioning period to be about 60 days and commented on some simple truths like going to the gym daily is better for your self conditioning than going three times a week.
This gave me an idea. I already wake up early three times a week (M,T,F) to hit up the gym before work. What if I kept getting up at the same early hour of 5am on those other two days of the week to complete some chores around the house? It would stabilize my sleeping and rising times and it would give me a defined time to do those things that I hate most (laundry, cleaning, and paperwork) without the distractions of fun roommate activities or guitar practice.
It might sound mundane but if I could fall into that habit it could be a nice little boost to my quality of life. This morning I kicked it off with a two loads of laundry, dishes, a trip to the dry cleaners, trip to the bank, and a birthday mocha from Starbucks – all before work! Awesome! we’ll see if I can keep it up.
Additional goal for age 30: Better mastery of comma usage. I dish out commas like they were bed bath and beyond coupons*. Commas… everywhere. It has to stop.
This afternoon I’m skipping out of work early to do some house cleaning in prep for my grilled pizza birthday party tonight and to hit up the DMV to get my license renewed. Even the heartless soul crushing atmosphere of the DMV could not damper today’s merriment.
Instead of typical birthday wishes in today’s comments, I ask any reader over the age of 30 to share some life wisdom. Or if that requires too much thought, normal birthday wishes are fine too. Happy June 15th Everybody!
*what is up with those coupons? I get about 4 a day.
I was up at 3:30 AM to celebrate your birthday!
My thing is focusing on things that seem unbearable and neverending are just a short season in our lives, the seasons change quickly, whatever seems neverending now will seem like a blink of the eye when you are 80 and look back on your life.
Wonderful words of wisdom! Thank you Mykal!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE D!
Wise words from Mykal. My advice would be to enjoy each “wake up” and appreciate what we tend to take for granted, such as the comfort of home, the miracle of the microwave, and how easy it is to keep in touch with people these days. There is beauty all around us that is overlooked, in people as well as in nature. Enjoy it!
Have the best year ever!
Thanks Mom D! You live this mantra well. I will remember one particular Mom D moment forever. Recently you were reflecting on Insomnia. You commented on how sometimes you find yourself completely awake at 1 in the morning and think “Not everyone has the opportunity to enjoy this hour of the day.”
When you’ve got to the point where you can appreciate insomnia, I think you’ve reached the nirvana of optimistic perspective.
Thanks Mom D!
Happy birthday, Mike D! As someone who is nearly 30, I hope for your continued awesomeness for your own well-being and to inspire me to not slow my own roll. Rock on!
I’ve been contemplating lately that what holds me back from getting the things I want is only me. I don’t quit engineering to become an artist because it’s scary. I don’t get my bad shoulder healthy because it’s hard work. It’s easy to see myself as a victim (shoulder), or trapped (job), and some people may really be those things. But it’s not me and it’s certainly not you. I think we’re lucky enough to get whatever we want if we just go for it. Of course, for me, that seems to be the hardest thing to do.
Mike, happy birthday! You are the best brother a girl could ask for. I don’t got much wisdom on me, but in the five years since I was 30 one of the best lessons I (gradually) learned is:
When people are testy, cranky, angry, or otherwise in a bad mood, 99.9999999999% of the time it has nothing to do with me. So it is a waste of my time to worry about it. And also, if I have done nothing wrong, and someone is mad at me, that’s their problem, not mine. Believe it or not, it’s taken me a long time to get there! For most of my life, I’ve been way too concerned about what other people think.
Hello! Welcome back to me! I’m not 30 yet, and never will be, but happy two weeks ago regardless! Good job staying on the internet – I’ve heard more and more stories of people falling off as of late!