Week 1: Breaking Patterns in Small Steps

There were moments this past week when I seriously questioned whether I could stick to the plan I’d set for myself, including blogging about it. But I’ve abandoned so many projects in the past that it feels like the right time to work on building my dedication and commitment.

Now, the first week of my 4-week journey is behind me, and if I had to sum it up in one word, it would be different. My goal this week was to focus on micro-tasks and test how consistent I could be. These tasks included things like drawing for 15 minutes, reading 30 pages of a technical book, and steering clear of sweets with added sugars.

The image in the header features my self-made calendar, complete with cute wooden flowers that I use to mark each day I successfully complete my tasks. This week, I managed to earn those flowers for four days - not perfect, but far from failure. Let me tell you why.

Morning Routines: Small Changes, Big Impact

I started waking up an hour earlier each day (6:30 am), feeling surprisingly refreshed. After a much-needed cold splash of water to my face, I used this time to journal my thoughts, without focusing on my upcoming days, instead, just reflecting on the past ones, noting down some important moments that I’d love to remember always. But I am curious, how many of you who started a journal actually went back to read a well-forgotten day in your lives? I guess I should keep a mental note to check up on my physical notes.

Workday: Finding Balance

To make my workday more intentional, I added 10-minute focus breaks every 90 minutes. During these breaks, I read my technical book, did some small sketches, or simply stretched and took deep breaths, all the time contemplating if I should turn the 10 minutes into 20 😳. In all honesty, this micro change did switch up the rhythm and helped me extend my proactive workflow.

Evenings: The only part of the day I can do what I want.

The idea is to have at least three “out of the ordinary” evenings a week, this time I only managed to squeeze in two:

• Tuesday: My “mystery walk” through Amsterdam was an opportunity for me to feel comfortable when I’m not in control of the situation. Technically, I know I’m never truly in control; life is just a series of coincidental events steering me along, but I like to pretend otherwise by planning everything - knowing where I’m going, what to expect, and mapping out every step. This time, I went out with my girlfriend and asked her to randomly pick the directions we took. Surprisingly, we ended up right at our metro station. Funny how the world works.

• Sunday: Instead of the planned improv class, I tried rock climbing and bouldering. It was intimidating at first, looking up and seeing “you can break a leg” heights. So, the tactic I chose to fight this unexpected fear was taking one step at a time and only focusing on the next step - fastening the rope… pulling on the rope really tightly… pulling once again just to be sure… and next thing you know, I’m far too high from the ground to say it’s comfortable.

  
  

  But something about the process - being alone with my thoughts, planning my next move, and trusting my body to reach those milestones - made me feel incredibly in tune with myself. I’m someone who can’t do one pull-up, and I had the wrong impression it was going to stop me from reaching the top, so accomplishing that reminded me why I’m on this journey: to learn more about myself and push my limits.

Moving Forward

I’d say I’ve done more than enough in the first week of this journey. One of my goals was to be kind to myself if things didn’t go as planned, and I believe I’ve done just that. How do I know? Well, reading through this blog brought a smile to my face. Now that I’ve experienced it, I’m even more excited to share week 2 with you. Here’s a small spoiler: it involves lasagnas and me finally starting to feel like I’m fitting in.

Stay tuned for week 2! And let me know if you've recently tried breaking any patterns - I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.