C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

01/03/2022 • 11:27 AM 2

Your Plan for 2022

As I write this, it’s the morning of January 3. According to discoverhappyhabits.com, a 2019 survey found “7% of survey participants stuck to all their resolutions in 2019, while 19% kept some but not all of their resolutions (and) 8% of participants failed to keep any resolution.” It’s also instructive that 57% of those surveyed rejected making any New Year’s resolutions. I’m with the 57%.

Here’s what I do instead:

Resolutions come from resolve and that often fades. Motivation is temporary. Focus on forming habits instead. Writing goals down and putting them in a prominent place can help to keep you focused.
To get the changes you want, make it fun. Gamify your changes the way NaNoWriMo makes writing friendly competition. Hate running? Me, too. But maybe volleyball or tennis is for you. Training can be grueling and lifting heavy things repeatedly can be boring. A sport can get you to exercise without noticing.
Suffering is overrated. Your “diet” food still has to taste good if your new lifestyle is to be sustainable. Muscling through the whole way is performative gym bro bullshit. Ignore anyone who is posturing. Even bootcamp doesn’t go on forever.
Reject perfection. Perfectionism is a form of self-loathing that only leads to procrastination.
Environment and supports trump motivation. For instance, you can’t binge on chips if you don’t bring them home from the grocery store. A chaotic environment burdens you with extra stress you don’t need.
That which is not measured does not change. Metrics can be helpful as long as they aren’t a chore. (I use MyFitnessPal, for instance, to keep my meals on track. I also check my blood sugar.)
Tracking when I’m consistent encourages me to form streaks. A streak is the seed of a habit. The FitOn app encourages me to keep going with my workouts by earning badges. Meaningless badges? Sure, theoretically. Those badges have no monetary value, but Iin practice, they work for me.
Accountability can be a gym partner or reporting your hits and misses to a trusted friend. People make fun of posting pictures of meals on Instagram, but many use social media as an accountability tool. It’s not for the audience. It’s for the intrepid poster.
Reject punishment and judgmental paradigms. Being mean to yourself (or others) is added stress you don’t need, and it’s counterproductive. Assuming you’re not striving for world domination, your goals are in alignment with love of self and others.
The toughest part is right before you start. Making plans is exciting. Establishing systems helps you succeed. Many people don’t get that far because they don’t begin.

My suggestion is to start by doing a little. Say, “I’ll write 500 words today,” and go do that ASAP. Once you get into it, you’ll often find you’re on a roll and will write more. Same with going for a walk or a jog. “I’ll just go for a short walk” might turn into a longer walk. Even if it doesn’t, you got out and did something for you.

Martyrdom is overrated. Do things for you. You deserve love, too.

For more tips and tricks, try Do The Thing by some guy:

~ Robert Chazz Chute mostly writes apocalyptic epics with heart and crime thrillers with muscle. Do The Thing is his only non-fiction book. For all this books, check out his author site, AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: mindset, 2022, do the thing, do the thing book, habit forming, how to build habits, how to form habits, how to win, how to write more, new year's resolutions, plans for 2022, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, writing

12/20/2021 • 12:39 PM 2

What to do when the wheels fly off

Between illness and trying to bounce back from Amazon sabotaging my book launch, December has been rough. However, I’m making the effort to look on the bright side even when things are damn dark. My outlook tends to be grim and all the news events confirm that bias. However, giving up isn’t an option and pessimism isn’t a great strategy. Optimists may be wrong often, but they get more done so they get more chances to score. In my defense, at least I’m usually funny about my grim worldview. (That’s right, Rob! Sublimate your rage with humor.)

One Quick Parable

I was riding a tandem bike with my wife when the road we were on suddenly turned to dirt and then nothing. Dead end. Trying to find our way back in unfamiliar surroundings, we crossed a large property with a mansion on it. A couple of the curious workers looked at us askance but we pedaled by quickly. Then the bike’s front wheel fell off. One of the seats flew off in the crash, too. My wife and I weren’t really hurt, but we found ourselves lost, far from home, and carrying the parts to a broken bike.

The mansion’s owner came out and asked if we were okay. Then he asked how he could help. I was embarrassed and felt like a trespasser. The homeowner, Cyrus, didn’t treat us that way, though. He must have had better things to do than to cater to a couple of forlorn strangers. Instead of shooing us away, he asked us to follow him to the workshop in his huge garage. Together, we worked on putting the bike back together. That wasn’t what pulled my attention, though. What got me was how relentlessly positive Cyrus was. He was both kind and eager to problem-solve.

And all the while, I thought, I wish I could be more like you, you beautiful sunny bastard.

But I could. It does require forming new habits to rewire my neural network. Fortunately, a full personality transplant isn’t necessary. Mindset sets the tone for whatever comes next.

Unfortunately, cynicism is often associated with intelligence.

Skepticism is valuable, and it’s not the same as cynicism. Being mean isn’t smart and being mean to ourselves is downright dumb. I want to be more like Ted Lasso, but I resonate more with Dexter.

My encounter with Cyrus reminded me of three people. There’s Dan, a friend who seems immune to worry. Wayne was a relentlessly positive guy whose presence elevated everyone around him. Then there was the guy who worked at one of the dining room stations at a resort in Cuba. These are people with genuine smiles who are pretty sure things are going to work out okay. If things don’t work out the way they want, they hold on to their sunny attitudes, secure in the belief they can at least make things better.

I don’t always make things better or easier for myself. Anxiety is always ready in my pocket. What I wrote about Ovid Fairweather in Endemic comes straight out of my brain. “When I say, ‘I love me,’ I mean the opposite.'”

Solutions, not Resolutions

I’m very aware that it’s easy to fall back into my old habits of thinking. Between the pandemic and… (gestures everywhere), I can be downright sour. With Cyrus in mind, I’m working on putting things back together. Recently, I ran into someone else who has a lot of that positive Ted Lasso energy. I need that. Besides continuing to watch Ted Lasso, I have to reinforce my optimism with:

Positive self-talk.
Self-care (e.g. healthier lifestyle, more water and vegetables, exercise).
Interacting with positive people more.
Avoid too much negative reinforcement (AKA the dark side of social media).
Avoid overdosing on the news.
Problem-solving.
Fewer side missions, more purpose.
Setting boundaries so I’m not stuck trying to be rational with irrational people.
Especially avoid comment sections on the internet, because trolls used to live under bridges but now they’re coming for our minds.
Focus on what I can control and letting go of the variables I can’t control.

The wheels flew off my metaphorical bike. I’m not a big believer in New Year’s resolutions, so this is just my commitment. Not for 2022. Right now. Nothing metaphorical about that.

We all pretty much know what to do already. That’s not the challenge. The challenge is to be consistent in the application of what we know.