Mark Stoller moved to Falcon in 2007.†He and his wife, Andra, both U.S. Air Force veterans, enjoy life with their daughters, extended family and adopted rescue dogs in Latigo. Mark savors the privilege of his wife and daughters being his muse for topics, people to meet and places to investigate.
Before we get started on what I found this month, I would like to close the loop on two previous columns.We successfully moved Ava into her college dormitory and said goodbye. Itís one thing to experience separation anxiety with a toddler while dropping them off at day care. They cry when you leave, and you know youíll be back in eight hours to collect them. Itís a whole other thing to drop your young adult off at college. I felt my heart cave in as Ava waved to us driving away with tears streaming down her cheeks. Thanks to her incredible roommate, Ava adjusted well and is headlong into the rigors of academia.Second, I had previously lamented being passed over for the nursing program and shared how I would plan the road ahead. Where one door closes, another opens. I am pleased to share that I have been accepted and am enrolled in the Respiratory Therapy program at Pueblo Community College. In five semesters I will be a nationally certified and licensed Respiratory Therapist.As a full-time student, there is no more haphazard juggling a full-time job, night school and family responsibilities. I know I must develop good study routines and create a system to excel in my academics.I have discovered the book ìAtomic Habitsî written by James Clear, who is a New York Times bestseller and has work featured in Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal, among others. Heís also a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies such as Capital One, General Electric, Honda, Intel and LinkedIn. Iím going to venture that he knows what heís talking about.The premise of the ìAtomic Habitsî book involves understanding that setting goals wonít guarantee success; whereas, establishing systems will deliver results.For example, goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. Improving by 1% every day is like compounding interest in your bank account. If you only look at the progress of one day, it wonít seem like much. However, when you reflect on the time you have spent implementing your system of improvement, you will see the impressive, cumulative effect.From ìAtomic Habits,î Clear writes, ìSmall changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient. An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results. If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.îThe book is widely available on Amazon, in stores, Kindle and Audible. With our current economic inflation, you donít have to purchase the book to get started on immediate change.Instead, like me, you can sign up at https://jamesclear.com/30-days for Clearís FREE ì30 Days to Better Habitsî course delivered via email.Eleven email lessons will guide you through the first 30 days of creating a new habit with easy, clear, step-by-step instructions. A 20-page PDF workbook is included with accompanying templates and cheat sheets. The 30-Day course has new examples and applications that you canít find in his book, ìAtomic Habits.î This framework works for creating any habit whether itís getting fit, saving for an early retirement, daily meditation; or, in my case, creating a new skill set.If youíre looking for self-improvement, this is a tried-and-true process just waiting to be implemented.
