For a couple of years now, I’ve collected great quotes and questions connected to building habits. I use these as prompts for journaling, thought processing, and self-development. But how did I build the habit of journaling in the first place?
In October 2021, I had an anxiety attack and decided to work on my mental health with a professional. My counselor recommended journaling to help me cope and process my thoughts. So I bought a fancy journal and began writing about random stuff. I would google search writing prompts, download journal prompt apps, and listen to podcasts to write down things I wanted to think about later. It was exhausting, frustrating, and time consuming. I didn’t think I would do it for long, but just as a way to get through some mental health challenges I had.
I looked back at some of my first journals and realized how inconsistent I was. The dates on the entries rarely were back to back. 2 days one week, skip two weeks, and then four straight daily entries. I was terrible at it, but then I found an expert on habit building — James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits.”
I first read his book in November 2020 and tried to implement his habit-building methods into my fitness journey starting in January 2021. Those habits didn’t stick. I had made them too difficult and relied on my self-discipline which was a recipe for failure.
The same issues I had with my fitness habits were the same issues I fought with building a journaling habit. But this time I had an unexpected resource — James Clear’s weekly newsletter. He publishes a weekly 3-2-1 newsletter with 3 quotes from his book, 2 quotes from other people, and 1 question for his readers to think about. This was the thing I needed to turn the corner on my journaling habit, and I didn’t even realize it when I signed up for it several months before.
In my search for writing prompts, I was writing down his single question every week. I wasn’t actually writing a response to it, but I’d transcribe it into my journal. I started collecting questions like this from other sources like John Maxwell, Dave Crenshaw, and Seth Godin. I might write 1 or 2 times a week, but I was always collecting questions and putting them in my journal. After a while, I started to only use James’s weekly newsletter for my journal prompts. I’d transcribe any quotes that felt interesting to me, write my own question, and then move on.
I did this for months. I had so many great quotes with pre-made questions that I felt guilty for not using more of them, so one day I simply started opening to an unanswered question and writing my thoughts down. No more than one page at a time. I continue to write the quotes in my journal, so I never have an excuse about what I should write about. Every weekday I open to the next page, read the quote, and write my thoughts. I don’t get upset or stressed if I miss a day. I just open and write. The prompt is already decided.
My daily journaling habit required a change in my thinking. I had to connect my habit to who I wanted to be in 10 or 40 years from now and not the inconvenience of the here and now. It was a shift in my mindset to stop thinking about the daily grind and start thinking about how daily actions compound into decade outcomes. I wanted to be someone that journals. I knew the identity I wanted to have.
The outcome and success from physical therapy is as much about teaching you daily movement habits and helping you build them as it is the hands-on manual therapy, dry needling, or cupping you get from Dr. Samantha. The benefits you get from daily exercises add up over time. The exercises you do today are not the ones you’ll do in the future, but they form a foundation for better movement related to your situation.
Our clients come to us because they need a movement expert. A guide to help them get moving and stay moving. Dr. Samantha provides exercises and education based on your unique needs — no two people are identical. Your exercises start off easy and evolve as you get better. We do this to help you build habits one exercise at a time instead of trying to do them all at once. We want to work you up to doing them 2-3 times per day. That's a serious change for a lot of people, but the exercises only work if you do them.
That’s why we teach our clients to adopt a movement identity. It helps you invest more of your time and energy to get better by looking at the quality of your movement across decades instead of days or weeks.
When we hear people say they aren’t getting better or seeing enough progress after seeing a physical therapist at other clinics, rarely is it a problem with the in-office treatment plan. Those treatments are 2-3 times a week at most and account for only a portion of what a physical therapist provides. What often prevents reaching movement goals is clients not doing their daily exercises. Clients need help building better habits to do the exercises a physical therapist provides.
The other issue we see is that clients aren’t getting new exercises that progress and challenge them appropriately as their body heals. Movement habits need to evolve to promote long-term well-being. Because we work 1-on-1 with clients, Dr. Samantha has the time and focus to constantly update our clients’ exercise plans to progress them to the next level so they spend less time getting treated and more time getting active. This approach leads to better daily movement habits, better long-term results, and a better life for our clients.
Like me with my journaling habit, you probably need an expert to help you get started. Schedule a free discovery call with Dr. Samantha to see if we can help you overcome pain, discomfort, recover from injuries, or even prevent them in the future. Get a movement expert like Dr. Samantha in your community and start moving for life.
