No Shaving

Starting a new routine is hard. And when that routine means starting a new lifestyle, it can be almost impossible.

My mother has always been a fan of the phrase, "If nothing changes, nothing changes." It basically means that if you're looking for something new to happen in your life, you actually have to do something to make that change come about. If you continue running around the same block, you can't expect the scenery to change.

There are any number of famous quotes that give us the same message, so you know it must be true. "We must be the change we wish to see in the world," says Gandhi. Einstein chips in, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results." These were serious men with serious mustaches, so we must believe that they knew what they were talking about.

For me, it's always been easy to plan the big shift than to take the small steps. It's why I have dozens of unfinished projects lying all around my apartment. I think of something that would be great to do, but without a level of accountability outside myself, I have great difficulty in holding myself to incremental steps toward those goals.

Without deadlines and specific requirements, it's very easy for me to lose focus. And what's more, before I'm done with what I was doing, I come up with another big idea, and my attention shifts to that.

So, before I go out and start getting my tattoo for each completed state (a great idea someone suggested), I want to make sure that I'm actually going to be able to make it through this journey. Otherwise, I'll just have reminders of yet another project that I never got around to finishing.

The problem, still, is that I have so much trouble holding myself to my own requirements. I NEED to wake up at 6 and go for my run. That way, I'm showered by 7 on weekdays. At that point, I can sit down and write my post (which serves as my running journal), check all my fun sites, and get some breakfast before I have to sit down and work. With two of my daily "to-dos" completed, my brain is a little bit more clear for all the work that I have to do throughout the rest of the day.

I know this so well. So why can't I get myself out of bed?

Maybe my mustache just isn't serious enough.

Tuesday's Run:
67 Degrees / Humid
5.05 Miles
37 Minutes, 7 Seconds