I'd like to invite you to join me and some friends of mine in a teeny, tiny New Year's resolution. This is a venture of errorless learning, a study in successive approximations, an approach to slicing not lumping.

Select something you want to change in your life, no matter how large, no matter how small, and begin to work at it in 15 minutes or fewer per day. Choose only one thing at a time and do only a little bit of it daily.

For Dog Owners and Trainers:

One thing I began several months ago was to do maybe 10 repetitions of various behaviors with my little dog just before leaving the house. It doesn't take more than 2 or 3 minutes, it makes him happy to go to the back room where he stays when no one is home, and I feel better leaving the house knowing he was so happy to go back there, do some tricks and then get a chewy to have in his bed. Now it's a habit, I enjoy it, he enjoys it, and he can't poop in the den while we're gone because I simply close the door when I leave.

For People With Houses or Apartments:

Another small behavior I began was to simply tidy or declutter some small area in my house for 15 minutes per day. For the first month to 6 weeks I didn't allow myself to keep working beyond 15 minutes even if I wanted to. That was the conditioning period where I learned that I would always be "allowed" to quit if I wanted to after 15 minutes. Now I generally work longer but if for ANY reason I want to quit after 15 minutes, I quit. "Any reason" includes, "Just don't feel like it". I committed to the 15 minutes, but I didn't commit to a minute more.

The interesting thing that happened was that after a couple of months of working for 15 minutes a day at these little household tasks, I started looking forward to it. I'm not kidding. I have always hated housework. Ten weeks ago my house was a disaster, what with our whole family being busy and creative. We had a perpetual laundry mountain and cat hair on every surface. Today it's far from perfect, but my house is looking brighter, airier, and less cluttered all the time. To top it off, I no longer dread housekeeping because I know I can always quit after 15 minutes if I want to.

For People With Weight Issues:

First, simply write down what you eat every day for a month so that you're aware of it. Don't get too detailed and weigh everything or ask chefs for ingredients. It's perfectly okay to write, "Fajita Taco with the Works" or Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Salad with Bleu Cheese and croutons. For many people with extra pounds just writing this stuff down results in some weight loss. Many dieticians say that those who are the most successful in dieting are the people who record what they eat.

The next step is to begin by changing one small thing per day, rather than embarking on an eating plan that is dramatically different from what you normally eat. Rather than going from Burgers and Fries to strictly low carb or strictly raw veggies, begin by eliminating half the fries. Order the small fries rather than the super size for one month. Or if you're up to it, order a side salad instead of the fries for one meal a day.

This is a diet plan for people who want to keep it off. When you're trying to lose weight, you're only going to do it by changing your behavior, so your actual weight is only a side-effect of behavior changes.

Professionally

A writer I know works primarily in non-fiction and craves the opportunity to write fiction. She has decided to write fiction for 15 minutes a day and begin to build a fiction-writing practice.

What can you do to improve your enjoyment of your profession or hobby in just a few minutes a day? My husband is a musician with a day job and he often picks up his guitar for a while in the early morning before the rest of us are awake. When I was actively playing guitar, I would often just pick it up and play 2 or 3 songs at the end of the day. This allowed me to keep my fingers in shape, to feel like I was being sufficiently creative, and to also make me remember that I don't need to practice for 4 hours a day if I don't have 4 hours a day. For most of us 15 minutes a day is enough.

But a more important point is that 15 minutes a day is a LOT! You really can accomplish a whole lot in 15 minutes a day. It adds up. And if 15 minutes a day is too much, you can still accomplish a lot in 5 minutes a day. The first thing you accomplish is to break through the resentment of doing the task or the guilt that tells you to do something else instead. Fifteen minutes of crocheting won't result in your life falling apart around you due to your sloth and you'll end up with a useful product at the end of it. Fifteen minutes of cleaning won't result in that horrific build-up of resentment you learned in childhood. It's just fifteen minutes.

POINTERS

Buy a timer that you can clip to your shirt, and set it to 15 minutes. Commit to one thing you want to accomlish for 15 minutes a day for one month. I would love to hear how it goes for you!

If you're stressing with the change you selected, make the change smaller, not larger. What do we say when our dogs aren't getting our shaping steps? Maybe we're lumping, right? Maybe we're making our approximations too big.

I hope you have a wonderful new year. Let me know if you decide to introduce small changes to your life. I would love to hear of your success!

Kellie

Copyright 2006