The most important things in life come in threes.
Mind, body and soul. Past, present and future. Beginning, middle and end. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Even staging decor or wall art, back in college I learned to do so in three's to make it more pleasing to the eye.
Unless you're talking third wheel's, three is usually a favoured number amongst our universal language.
We can also use the rule of three when it comes to living our best lives; everything from routines, habits, goals and dreams can be broken down into a trio of productivity, positivity and palpable success.
Because one is so damn biased.
Waking up and only taking into consideration how successful you are in ONE DAY leaves little space to breathe, lean, move and flow through whatever life throws at us. For instance, the morning I wrote this I woke up thirty minutes passed my alarm.
I know, no big deal right? Wrong.
My anxiety around productivity used to be so bad that waking up 30 minutes late would have once sent my entire day into a spiral of self-defeat and panic before I had a chance to brew my morning cup.
Not this morning though. I rolled out of bed, stretched out my arms above my head and took one, long deep breath before tossing my blankets and being on my blissful way.
I wasn't basing my success at waking up early off of only today.
In the last three days, today was the first I slept in.
In the last three days, I've been getting to bed a little later than I usually do because I've been spending more time hanging out and sharing valuable moments and laughs (thank you, Bachelor season 4367) with my best friend at night.
- you take that extra 30 minutes.
When we evaluate our daily success by a standard of three rather than one, we give ourselves more wiggle room to also flow with life as it comes. End up over-indulging in the free pizza at work today? Spent a little more at the bar buying rounds for your friends than you thought? Lacking sleep because you stayed up late to finish a paper?
It's alright, you've got three days to either balance back out, or reflect on in terms of where you find yourself at now.
Engraining a new habit can be hard or daunting.
"Ok, time to get healthy... that means I need to workout everyday, get to bed by 10pm, drink 2L of water, eat only whole foods cooked at home, walk instead of drive to the store, take the stairs and meditate for 30 minutes every day for the rest of my life on top of all the other things I need to get done on a daily basis...."
Not if you're breaking your habits down into 3 week sprints.
Testing out any new habit you're looking to form in the span of three weeks does a number of good for you. Not only does it give you time to evaluate come week four if this habit is something that's brought value to your life, and thus, is here to stay or go, but it also gives you an end-game in sight during those first few days that will feel the worst. You're able to give yourself a finish line -- but one with just enough time to see if you end up feeling any results from this new habit.
Just because waking up early makes Julie feel happy and thriving everyday doesn't mean that it won't leave your night-owl creative juices feeling neglected. Or just because Sally feels cleansed and clear drinking a shot of celery juice every morning doesn't mean you won't finish week three feeling no difference what so ever aside from the extra 20 minutes it takes to clean your kitchen every morning.
Thank God it was only for three weeks, and oh the lessons we learned!
Alas, more power to put forth in living our best lives.
I am notorious for getting SUPER excited about a goal, crunching my excitement into an unrealistic deadline, starting out guns a-blazing only to end up burnt-out, mentally askew and quite sleep deprived by the time it's finished.
"Run a marathon? Next month? Sure, why not!"
Listen, I am all for being optimistic and manifesting goals but not at the expense of our mental or physical health. Setting ourselves up for disaster is the fastest way to set ourselves up for failure turned self-doubt turned depressive states of unwashed bedhead hair and chip crumbs on our 3 day worn sweatshirts.
Excitement > unrealistic time frame > overdrive > failure > guilt > forgiveness (hopefully) > excitement > unrealistic time frame > overdrive... you get the drill.
If it's a smaller goal, make your timeframe three months.
By small goals I mean -- changing the health or performance levels of your body, saving up for a trip, learning a new skill or hobby, reading a book, minimizing and decluttering your house, healing from an emotional wound, etc.
If it's a bigger goal, give yourself three years.
I'm talking -- writing a book, meeting your soul mate, falling in love, travelling the world, healing from a deeper emotional wound, starting a new business, paying off your debt, buying a house, changing your income bracket, whatever tickles your fancy.
This whole goal and dream mindset works on reflecting too. When holding yourself up for evaluation as we unknowingly tend to do more than we may even realize, don't just look at what you've done this month or this year.
What have you accomplished in the last 3 months? How much have you grown and changed in the last 3 years?
How many hours have you worked, projects have you completed, moments have you shared, milestones have you surpassed, goals have you accomplished?
Take in all the obstacles you've overcome and the distance crossed from where you used to be to where you are now.
You're not doing so bad now are you?
Whenever we evaluate our lives in threes, we give ourselves a better balance of perspective for the progress we've made and the steps we're taking. It can be hard to find a balance between living and driving, contentment and productivity, going for it and being okay with exactly where you're at.
If you decide to do it in threes, you might just find yourself tucked cozily into the journey while you make moves towards the next finish line -- be it 3 days, weeks, months or years ahead.
Either way, you've got this!