One small step a day - progress over perfection

I have lots of things I want to achieve. I have a few things I MUST achieve.

I WANT to learn Spanish, improve my Japanese, become a yoga master/fitness master and do crazy feats of physical abilities, train Blue to behave perfectly in social situations, quit relying on a W-2 job to get me through life, travel travel travel for pleasure, give another pitbull a loving home, get involved in a meaningful way in sustainability efforts, read more books, and I'll probably add more to this as my bi-polar brain thinks of things.

I MUST get debt-free and save enough so I can fund myself through the end of my life.

I MUST figure out how to successfully handle romantic feelings toward another human.

I MUST build my financial resiliency.

I MUST develop a better relationship with alcohol.

Progress over perfection

The Spanish and Japanese thing are easy to tackle with today's resources. I'm using Duolingo and learning each one bite a day. Thanks to Duo the Owl and his facial expressions throughout the day, I have an external reminder to take that daily step. I am training my brain to remember that it's five to fifteen minutes a day, not an ordeal. By banishing the negative impressions in my brain with facts I'm making progress. Native Spanish speakers understand and appreciate my efforts! I'm hoping to make enough progress in my Japanese that when I go next time I can interact with shopkeepers and waitstaff only in Japanese.

I have yet to find something to help me banish the 47 year old habit of hating housework. I can do a little and be satisfied but that doesn't help with the bit I don't tackle and that I leave for the next day. I'll eventually unwind all that mental mess, stay tuned.

Yoga and fitness. I used to work out a lot. All that ended when my first marriage fell apart and I was a single gal rebuilding after being a stay at home mom. There was no way I could afford a gym membership or to keep attending the martial arts I was involved in - much less have the energy after working enough entry level jobs to support myself. I'm still loathe to pay for a gym membership - I have mental issues around the gym and am certain I'd lose steam and quit going. Besides, even $20-$30 a month is that much more to pay down debt with. I have an Asana Rebel membership and I still don't use it often enough. Here's where this ties into One Small Step A Day:

If I could get over my brain saying "I'd rather (insert distractor here)" then I'd do a five to ten minute yoga session every day. It's not hard. It's not tough on my body. It's good for my body and soul. When I do participate, I feel great.

Oh My Gosh. AI bots. Maybe I can figure out how to use one that will prompt me like the Duo Owl does. The Asana Rebel app does set up reminders, Caliber Fitness also does, yet those reminders fail to bust through the brain resistance. Hmmm, more to contemplate.

The author generated this image in part with GPT-3, OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model. Upon generating draft imagery, the author reviewed, edited, and revised the image to their own liking and takes ultimate responsibility for the content of this publication.