Changing My World In Thirty Days

They say it only takes thirty days to make something a habit. I think it takes more than that, but that length of time is just about right. The month of dedicating one's self to developing a good habit will only cement the new behavior in place if there is a reason to do it and it is feasible.

It would be good to walk to work everyday, but it is just not doable for me since work is across a river more than ten miles from home. Not feasible. One day walking to my bus stop will be feasible and it is something I am working towards.

At one time "Because I said so" from my mother was a sound reason to do something. Sometime during my childhood that reason became insufficient for me to do a host of things, including making my bed. So for decades I have not made my bed beyond the initial putting on of clean fitted and straight sheets, and pillowcases. I saw no sound reason for doing more. Why expend time and energy doing something that was just going to get undone? And why do it day after day?

This changed on May 30 of this year when I read a blog post of Naval Admiral William H. McRaven's commencement speech to the graduates of the University of Texas at Austin. The admiral detailed ten life lessons he gained from Navy SEAL training. I have the utmost respect for our military and especially the SEALs, so I was eager to see what he had to say. I had no doubt that he would have some pearls of wisdom for how to live a successful life. The only one I remember is "Make your bed every day."

Seriously? How could making one's bed every day make one successful? I wasn't about to dismiss the idea outright. After all, he was a SEAL and a successful high ranking officer. But that doesn't mean that his ideas weigh more than Mom's. I needed a good reason to believe that making my bed every day would affect my life in a positive way.

I read on, and was surprised to find myself thinking there might be merit to making my bed every day. I will let you read the admiral's wisdom and judge for yourself, but it was enough to for me to embark on an experiment. For the next month I committed to making my bed before I did anything else that morning. At the end of June I would decide if this was a worthwhile habit to employ permanently.

Thirty days have passed and I have faithfully made my bed everyday. I did this no matter how late I got up, how rushed I was, whether it was a workday or a weekend, or if I was at home or on vacation. This surprises and delights me. To some it may not seem like much, especially since it is a twin bed and many people already do this everyday. But it is meaningful for me. It means that for thirty days I did something that I hadn't done for several decades. I can change. It also has a deeper spiritual meaning in how I begin each day and has helped fortify my optimistic view of life.

I will continue to make my bed every day. Not because Mom said so (though she was right!) Not because the military does it. Not because it has become an automatic no-brainer. I will do it because I now find great value in the simple task of making my bed.

I have also decided that I am adopting a new, healthy habit each month. For the month of July I am going to do fifteen minutes of housework/cleaning each day. I have written on small cards a variety of tasks ranging from cleaning out the refrigerator to organizing bookshelves to vacuuming and dusting. If it is not practical or necessary to do a task on a given day I can put it back in the box, but I can only do this twice. I am not permitted to reject the third card on a day. I will set a timer for fifteen minutes, and work no more, no less. The cards and the timer will help keep things reasonable and feasible.

By the end of July I should be making my bed and cleaning everyday. They say the Battle begins at home. I plan to be on the winning side. I think that is both reasonable and feasible.