I love my year-long habit tracker! If you’ve never used one, give it a try…you can start anytime of the year.
In my post about how to use a habit tracker, I talk about the habits I want to develop and how I track mine.
For 2022, the habits I’m tracking are the days that I…
- Do not drink any alcohol
- At the end of the day, feel good about what I ate that day (physically feel good and mentally, feel good about my choices)
- Move 9 km or more, based on my Fitbit data
- Walk or Run on the treadmill or outside
- Complete resistance training (7 Minute Workout app or other form of building strength)
- Move my body in another way, such as shoveling, gardening, vacuuming, cleaning the house, etc. or an extra walk.
- Drink 3 L of water
For each day that I follow through with a habit, I fill in a square on my tracker. My tracker, which is color-coded, is posted in the kitchen where I can see it every day; it shows 6 months at a time.
Below is a picture of my March progress, and if you’re curious about the details related to my previous months, here’s January and February.
The visual reminder of my tracker, which I see multiple times a day, is not only a reminder and motivation/encouragement, but as the year progresses, it becomes a sense of accomplishment.
Sure, I can see a bunch of white squares, where I’m not doing a habit often, but, I can also see tons of squares filled in, for certain habits, that show I’m kicking ass with those ones.
It’s really important to notice what we ARE doing, and not just
what we aren’t doing or should do better.
So many of us end the day with negative thoughts about ourselves. That is NO way to start your night of sleep.
If you want to develop the habit of being kinder to yourself and learn how to celebrate the small wins in your daily life, check out my Accomplishment Journal. It’s a game changer.
If habit tracking in a year-long format intrigues you, download the free pdf here, or download the free Word document, where you can type in your habits at the top.
March was a great month for most of the habits I’m developing.
The Wins
- Pink Squares Alcohol-free days: I didn’t drink any alcohol for 24 out of the 31 days. That means I drank only on 7 days. Down the road, I’d like that to be 4 days, but 7 is awesome. 🙂 March was mostly the same as February (I had alcohol 8 days in February).
- Yellow Squares For my goal of hitting 9 km on my Fitbit each day, I improved! Eleven days show that I moved 9 km or more, which is an improvement from January and February. I didn’t meet my goal of having 50% or more days at 9 km, so perhaps I’ll hit that next month. Some of the yellow-square days refer to days when the km much higher than 9. In the end, the overall movement is important too because I have a 2022 goal of 3000 km. The March update shows my progress.
- Blue Squares I walked or ran outside or on the treadmill for all but 5 days in March, which is the exact same as February; I’m happy with that.
- Purple Squares There were many days I got in some form of other movement, like a second walk, shoveling, vacuuming, etc. I’m really happy with 21 days out of 31.
The Not-There-Yets
- Green Squares There were many days where I felt good at the end of the day about what I ate (good choices and not feeling full or bloated when I went to bed). 21 of 31 days were green, which isn’t horrible, but, I’d like to see more green squares. The habit of feeling good about my food choices is an area for growth.
- Orange Squares I didn’t do as much resistance/strength training this month. I did it 6 times, and in February, I did it 10 times. I’d like to continue to develop this habit, so I’m toning/building muscle on a more regular basis.
- Red Squares Drinking 3 L of water per day was the habit I gave the least attention. Most days, I consumed only half that amount. There’s nothing wrong with 1.5 L of water a day (still not bad 🙂 ), but my ideal is 3 L. We’ll see how this habit comes along.
The reason I post my habit tracker is for extra accountability for me, and also to show you how cool it can be to visually see your progress on a monthly basis. Using my year long habit tracker has really helped me see my lifestyle patterns.
I can say I walk almost every day, but if my tracker reveals otherwise, then my eyes are opened, and I can make adjustments to my habits to reflect the healthy lifestyle I want to live.
Wishing you success with your own habit development. 🙂
Live your true life,
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