100 Words

Mini Habits: Guest Blog

January 10th, 2021
Mollie T. Cox

Beth Sterne* shares what she has learned about breaking bad habits.

Mini habits make success and permanent change attainable. Stephen Guise explains a small-step approach in Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results.

The goal is to change your brain with repetition.

Force yourself to take 1-4 strategic actions daily. (Ten minutes max, all together) These actions are too small to fail or to skip. Mini goals should be “stupid small.” You succeed when you do that small thing.

You may do more, but no more is required. Do not raise the goal.

Guise’s brain resisted a 30-minute workout. One push-up? His brain agreed. He now does full workouts. He requires himself to write 50 words per day; he usually writes two thousand. Success is one push up and fifty words. Doing a little bit daily has more impact than doing a lot on one day.

A big push day ends. A little bit daily grows into a lifelong habit.

The subconscious does not fight small steps. Taking one step at a time, you cooperate with the subconscious – while transforming it. You’ve sneaked into the control room.

What mini habit will you start?

* Beth blogs at https://putoffprocrastination.com

Book Recommendations, Parenting

Habits Rule

January 3rd, 2021
Mollie T. Cox

I wish I had known The Power of Habit—not just the title of a book by Charles Duhigg but also a reality. Once formed, habits cannot be dropped. They stay in our basal ganglia—the center of our brain.

Habit retention is good news. Good habits are not easily lost: prayer, Bible study, brushing our teeth, exercising, the best way to drive a route.

Habit retention is bad news. Bad habits cannot be easily dropped: procrastination, gossip, tardiness, overeating.

How do we change habits if they are always in our brain? We replace them.

If I had understood the power of habit, I would have found and implemented good habits to replace the bad ones. I also would not have been as frustrated by habits that seemed impossible to break. I would have understood that bad habits were prepared to reappear.

Even more, I would have been more diligent about my children’s habit formation. “We can let this slide once because we are late,” I thought too many times. No, it is the start of a habit that will always be retained in my sons’ basal ganglia.

For more information see https://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/

Any habits need replacing?

Holidays, Memories

Year End Review

December 27th, 2020
Mollie T. Cox

Along the way, I learned the importance of organizing and reviewing family photographs on a regular basis. Photographic records of family history are precious for too many reasons to list here.

Three years ago, we spent New Year’s Day putting the finishing touches on our boys’ photo albums. They now have a visual record from birth through the beginning of college.

As we looked at photographs of events we had forgotten, I wished we had reviewed them on a regular basis. We could have savored the memories. Perhaps we would have implanted them more deeply by discussing the photographs.

I don’t remember going there are sad words to hear when a family vacation trip was important to you.

Organizing photographs on New Year’s Day would have kept the album work manageable. It would have also given us a family activity on a day that was usually quiet and unscheduled.

News Year’s Day is a time to look forward. It also can be the best time to look back in a practical way, one which will yield fruit for many years.

I implore you to spend time looking at and discussing your photographs with your spouse and children.

Homeschooling, Winter

Hang a Bird Feeder

December 20th, 2020
Mollie T. Cox

My oldest son’s first clear word was dog. A family pet rushed into the living room where we were visiting Christmas Day. “Dog,” he blurted.

Bird followed. My toddler kept vigil over the birds eating the seed outside our kitchen window. “Bir” he said over and over. “Bird” corrected his visiting grandmother.

We moved, and moved, and moved again. Bird feeders were forgotten for twenty-two years.

Twelve inches of snow followed by nineteen inches of snow caused my husband and I to hang bird feeders on our deck. We watched cardinals, blue jays, doves, woodpeckers, chickadees and more. We photographed them. We researched them. As the snow lingered, and word spread, the quantity and varieties on our deck increased.

This red-bellied woodpecker visits frequently.

My joy was mixed with sadness. My sons were in college. They were missing adventures and learning experiences that could not be regained. If only I could go back twenty years and re-hang a winter bird feeder.

Does something need to be reinstated in your home?

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
Luke 12:24 (ESV)

Christmas, Memories

Christmas Memories

December 13th, 2020
Mollie T. Cox

The best Christmas memories frequently originated from easy, spontaneous activities. And free. My youngest son fondly remembers using wrapped presents under the Christmas tree as roads and hills for his matchbox cars. I don’t remember how that activity started, but it continued over several years, even when the boys were so old it was the only time their cars were taken out of their buckets.

Once, I decided to have a picnic lunch under the Christmas tree. The kids were elementary age, and it was fun. I didn’t make it a yearly event. I wish I had because that special memory belongs only to me.

Another favorite tradition was sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Until the boys were teenagers, the entire family slept on the floor. The boys slept in sleeping bags. My husband and I slept on camping mattresses. My husband eventually opted for his own bed, and as a loyal wife I followed. By the college years, only the middle son carried on the tradition. I hope this tradition is re-instated if we have grandchildren.

Any easy, memory-making activities in your home?