The Butterfly Effect – Challenge Week 5

Each Monday I check in with my update on my 13 week experiment to transform areas of my life using small habit changes that I call Butterfly Effects.  Over time, in theory, these small habit changes equate to massive transformation.  My experiment is to see if this theory works, and allows me to concentrate on multiple goals at one time. 

Today marks the beginning of week 5.

The Update

My normal course of action on these weekly Butterfly Effect articles is to post updates on how each challenge is going.  I started this post off in the same way, but then, as I started to reflect on the last month, a pleasant feeling of calm washed over me and I had a bit of an epiphany.

I'm enjoying this process so much that I've stopped caring about the individual goals. 

That's not to say I won't still strive for my goals, rather, I've embraced the new habit changes and each one becomes an end on their own. 

I'm all about simple, and I continue to tinker with ways to make my life more simple.  The big reason is, I don't anticipate having a lot of time for myself as my triplets come home from the hospital.  Life will get complicated when the babies come home, particularly as my wife and I develop our new skills of parenting.  Simplifying the things that we've been doing for thirty (okay, thirty-six years, I admit it) reduces the effect of the more complicated new skills we have to learn.

My physical health begins to improve in a slow, manageable way, as does my mental and spiritual health.  My personal efffects get simpler even though the more complicated effects of baby stuff will encroach.  My finances get simpler as I follow a couple basic rules and don't stress out about every small thing. 

It's pretty easy to write a book when you take it one day, and one page at a time and I enjoy the process of dissecting and learning a topic a few minutes every day. 

So I'm not adding anything new this week except for one over-arching Butterfly Effect. 

Intend It

I've taken to carrying a written copy of my Butterfly Effects on an index card everyday with me.  It's part of my minimalist to-do list that travels in my pocket (basically, the Hipster PDA).  Each evening before bed, I will sit in a quiet place and spend a moment or two in quiet reflection, intending to complete my list of Butterfly Effects the following day.

Why before bed?

I can't find the context for where I learned this but I know it was taught by exercise guru, Matt Furey.  I first read about this as my wife went into the hospital during the twenty week mark of her pregnancy and I began a long series of days sleeping on a tiny hospital pull out chair. 

The first several nights were dreadful.  My back hurt all the time, I woke up more tired than when I went to bed.  But once I started implementing this great concept, my whole world changed.

All I did was, before bed, I closed my eyes and set the intent that I would sleep great and wake up feeling terrific next morning.  It sounds campy, but I tell you, it worked.  I woke up refreshed, with no back pain, still sleeping on that tiny little pull out chair every night for more than six weeks.

When you set an intent each night and let your subconscious mind work on it as your conscious mind sleeps, amazing results can occur.  And so that's why I'm sold on setting my intents each night.

As a quick round-up, here is the list of previous Butterfly Effects that I have implemented.

Health:

1. Drink a large glass of water before each meal.
2. Yoga for ten minutes each day
3. Meditate for ten minutes each day
4. 10 Hindu Pushups and 20 Hindu Squats, incrementing each day
5. Jog at least 1.75 miles 3x per week

Simplify:

1. Re-purpose two items per day
2. Catalog my possessions for 15 minutes each day
3. Write down five things to be grateful for each day
4. Edit my digital life

Blogging

1. Comment on 1 post each day
2. Respond to each comment received
3. 15 minutes learning the blogging trade

Finance

1. Track spending each day
2. Save my five dollar bills

Writing

1. Write 250 words each day toward my first book/ebook

Related Posts:

The Butterfly Effect – Challenge Week 1

The Butterfly Effect – Challenge Week 2

The Butterfly Effect – Challenge Week 3

The Butterfly Effect – Challenge Week 4