Hello 2024: Crushing Bad Habits, Diving into Books, and Sip and Chat Reveal!

Happy New Year Daenne's Journal Fam,

Late last year, I read one of my favorite books: Atomic Habits by James Clear. I even have a podcast episode about it. Click here. I was really determined to break some of the bad habits I had. The major one is seating on my couch and binge watching shows. My close friends know that there is one side of the couch that is off limit. Every day, I look forward to getting home to sit in that corner. I noticed that I was spending a lot of time on social media as well. Yet, I couldn't find time to read which is a habit that I lost somewhere along the way.

In December, my friend Djef shared an Instagram's post of the 12 books that he read in 2023. I was so inspired by his post. During one of our group call, we talked about the post. The conversation about this post made me laugh in true Djef fashion. Nonetheless, I was still inspired. I told my friends that I wanted to read one book per month. Ben another one of my friends on the call quickly told me: it is doable Da! That is the vote of confidence that I needed.

I realized that in order to read one book a month, I would need to change somethings around. I remembered one thing from Atomic Habits which is to combine a new habit with something that you are already doing. I was already sitting on the couch for at least 2 hours every night, I told myself that I would read at night. That was not enough. I decided that I would replace TV time with reading, which was after I watched Berlin, of course. If you are a Money Heist fan, you need to go watch Berlin (as long as it's not getting in the way of your healthy habits). I really decided to test the theories of the book and the unexpected happened.

I finished my first book (Compound Effect by Darren Hardy) of the year/month on January 6th. I was so proud of my accomplishment that I told all of my friends and now YOU. I was done for the month with my reading goal. But if you know me, you know that I am an overachiever. With more than 20 reading days left, I decided to read a thicker book (More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth) which may take me longer to read. I finished my second book by January 13th.

I am glad that my first book of the year was Compound Effect. It really put a lot of things in perspective for me coupled with all the things I learned from Atomic Habits late last year. I realized that all of the time I used to spend surfing and scrolling could have been used for something more productive. Like Darren said " Choices are at the root of every one of our results. Each choice starts a behavior that over time becomes a habit. Choose poorly and you might just find yourself back at the drawing board, forces to make new, often harder choices. Every decision, no matter how slight, alters the trajectory of your life." I chose to spend less time on social media and I will read three books this month. That is just one habit. Imagine the great things I will accomplish as I continue to tackle my bad habits one by one. I am so excited about the information I grasp in these two books that I will use them as the focus for our next Sip and Chat which will be on Tuesday January 16th at 5 p.m. PST/ 8:00 PM EST. Click here to RSVP.

Needless to say, I am opened to book suggestions, please share some suggestions in the comment section with me. Let's make 2024 the best year YET!

If you are not subscribed to Daenne's Journal, click here to subscribe so the next article can be in your email. Can't wait to see you at Sip and Chat!

Xoxo,

DD