The Three-Week Rule: How to Improve Your Quality of Life in Just Twenty-One Days

     It's difficult to say what's harder, breaking old habits or starting new ones. Personally, I've always had trouble with both of these efforts, and the same thing seems to happen almost every time. I begin my campaign confident and enthusiastic, ready to make a change and I usually do a pretty good job of sticking to it for the first few days. But as the first week rolls along and the improvements aren't as rapid as I'd like, I end up quitting. Or a busy day hits in the middle of the week and the distractions simply overpower my new goals and I revert back to my old ways and leave my new aspirations by the wayside.

     Well after recently succeeding in changing a few of my own habits, I feel like I've found a pretty decent blueprint for success. It's not flawless or foolproof by any means, but its been working for me so you may as well give it a try, right?

     First and foremost, you must establish a strong motive for taking on this change in your lifestyle. In other words, you need to answer the question, why? Why do you want to make this change? What are the benefits? How will it improve your quality of life? The bottom line is, if you don't have a good reason for doing something, not only will you be less enthusiastic about it, but you're also more likes to fail or to give up due to lack of interest and motivation. A simple example would be if you wanted to quit swearing. Why do you want to do this? If your answer is a simple, "because swearing is bad," then you're probably not going to follow through. But if you take a moment to realize that you want to break your habit of casually swearing in order to prepare for your professional life after graduation, then there is a much higher chance of success.

     The second step is a matter of commitment. In order to truly change a habit, you need to be willing to commit a minimum of three weeks of effort. After the first couple of days, its easy to say, "oh, this isn't for me," or, "I can't do this," but you haven't even given yourself a chance. This is especially true for anything that involves a physiological change (i.e. changes in diet, exercise, or sleep patterns). The reason is simple enough: you need to give your body time to adapt to the changes you're putting it through, and 2-3 days just isn't enough. This is why I like the three week layout, because while this may not be a 100% accurate breakdown, it makes it easy to divide into three stages of transition:

1. The first week is always the toughest; this is the week in which your body is going to experience a little bit of a shock depending on how significant your changes are. Everyone who has gone through at least one "first week" of lifting or working out should understand this. If you're making a change in exercise habits, this is going to be the week in which you experience the most soreness; if you're making a dietary change, this is the week in which you may experience low energy or mood swings, maybe even "intestinal issues." The first week is when you need to be the most determined and motivated to stick to your decision to change your lifestyle; brighter days are ahead.
2. By the beginning of the second week, you have given your body some time to adjust to your new habits. This is the week in which you should begin to see positive results. If you're working out, you're going to experience less soreness, and you should be able to notice that you're already getting stronger and more fit. If you're trying out new dietary habits, this is when your energy levels should become higher and more consistent. This week should serve as motivation in itself as your hard work begins to pay dividends. But you're not done yet.
3. By the third week, your body has adapted and you have begun to see the positive effects. By building on your week two results, you now have a chance to gain some real insight into what it would be like to make this a permanent lifestyle change. In week three, you can also begin tweaking your regimen to find out what works best for you. At the end of the week, you should know whether or not you really want to continue with this change. If you do, that's great and you've already given yourself a three week head start; if not, that's okay, too, because you know that it isn't for lack of effort and you're not quitting on yourself.

     I also recommend going into the three-week period with a concrete plan. Spend some time doing a little research on what exactly you're trying to do, and figure out the best way to do it. I can guarantee you that you're not the first person to attempt this change, whatever it may be. Then, draw up a work-out schedule or menu and stick to it. Remember to keep it simple at the beginning; you can't expect to jump right into the thick of things. If you're beginning to work out, ease yourself into it with a few shorter and more moderate-intensity workouts (not only will this make it easier for you to start, but it will help you avoid injury). If you're changing your eating habits, I recommend choosing a few simple meals that fit your new dietary requirements and just repeating them for the first few weeks until you've gotten the hang of things. Try to make the workouts something that you enjoy and the recipes easy to prepare so you're new habit doesn't seem like a chore.

     And that's it! Like I said, this is not flawless but it works for me and I think its a pretty good blueprint for success. Please feel free to comment, especially if you're going to try it!

Socialism sucks....right???

***Note***I did NOT write this. I found it on Facebook and am simply passing it along:

"Here are some programs brought to you by "Socialism"...

1. The Military/Defense - The United States military is the largest and most funded socialist program in the world. It operates thanks to our taxpayer dollars and protects the country as a whole. From the richest citizens to the homeless who sleep under the bridge. We are all protected by our military whether we pay taxes or not. This is complete socialism.

2. Highways/Roads - Those roads and highways you drive on every single day are completely taxpayer funded. Your tax dollars are used to maintain, expand, and preserve our highways and roads for every one's use. President Eisenhower was inspired by Germany's autobahn and implemented the idea right here in America. That's right, a republican president created our taxpayer funded, national highway system. This was a different time, before the republican party came down with a vicious case of rabies that never went away.

3. Public Libraries - Yes. That place where you go to check out books from conservative authors telling you how horrible socialism is, is in fact socialism. Libraries are taxpayer funded. You pay a few bucks to get a library card and you can read books for free for the rest of your life.

4. Police - Ever had a situation where you had to call the police? Then you have used a taxpayer funded socialist program. Anyone can call the police whether they pay taxes or not. They are there to protect and serve the community, not individuals. This is complete socialism on a state level, but still socialism all the same. Would you rather have to swipe your credit card before the police will help you?

5. Fire Dept. - Hopefully you have never had a fire in your home. But if you have, you probably called your local taxpayer-funded fire department to put the fire out. Like police, this is state socialism. You tax dollars are used to rescue your entire community in case of a fire. It use to be set up where you would pay a fee every month to the fire dept. for their service. If you didn't pay, they let your house burn down. Sadly, a man from Tennessee had this exact situation happen to him in 2011 because he didn't pay his $75.00 fee. I guess that small town in Tennessee would rather let people's houses burn down that resort to evil socialism. So don't take for granted the fact that you have a 24/7 fire dept. to put out your burning home thanks to socialism.

6. Postal Service - Like having mail delivered directly to your front door and paying next to nothing to send mail anywhere you want? Well it's all made possible by socialism.

7. Student Loans and Grants - Did you go to College? If you did, you family might not have been rich enough to pay your way through. So you got your education anyway through student loans and grants from the federal government at taxpayer expense. Of course you have to pay back the loans, but if not the government, did you know anyone else who was going to lend you tens of thousands of dollars? Probably not. So the taxpayers lent you the money and you paid it back with slight interest. The government grants you accepted were gifts from the taxpayer and the federal government that you did not have to pay back. Socialism got you through school.

8. Bridges - Along with our highways, our government used your taxpayer dollars to build bridges. This allows the public to travel across rivers without having to sail or swim.

9. Garbage Collection - Like having your garbage collected once a week instead of having to drive it to the landfill yourself? Thank socialism.

10. Public Landfills - Taxpayer dollars are used to have places to dump all of our garbage that is collected by taxpayer funded garbage men."

***I don't know about you, but I think that's some pretty good stuff. I'm not endorsing socialism here (or maybe I am, I'm not really sure), but I do think this is an interesting read in light of all of those accusing Obama of being a "socialist."

My Post-Vote Reaction: More Frustration

   Late last night I came to the stark realization that, practically speaking, I have no choice but to vote for a candidate from one of the two major political parties. And I honestly thought that I had come to terms with that. Nevertheless, as I stood in front of the voting screen this afternoon, I was still torn. I knew without a doubt who I wanted to vote for; I knew who I wanted to be the next president of the United States of America. And after standing at the voting screen for about 30-40 seconds longer than anyone else, I didn't vote for her. I couldn't. It just didn't make sense to me; it wasn't the practical decision.
     So who did I vote for? Not who I want to win the election; I voted for who I feel has the best chance of winning--or, more accurately, who I feel has the best chance of defeating the candidate that I want to lose. So at the end of the day, I didn't vote for the candidate that I want to lead our country for the next four years--I didn't vote for anyone. I voted against the candidate that I do not want in charge of this nation. And I walked away feeling unsatisfied and unhappy. In a country as great as ours, that should never happen.

To Vote or Not to Vote? -- My Frustration with the Two Party System

     In 2008, I turned 18 less than two months before the presidential election. Naturally this led to a significant excitement to vote and a strong propensity to be outspoken about the coming election. I helped other students register to vote and even helped organize a student debate and mock election at school.

     Four years later my attitude could not be more different. Until about a month ago, I was dead-set on not voting in this year's election for reasons that I still find to be somewhat valid. The foremost reason is that I am not crazy about either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. This reality eventually prompted me to look into some of the third-party candidates. In doing so, I came to the conclusion that Green party representative, Jill Stein, is the candidate who best reflects my political views--both social and economic--and during the last week I have been happily anticipating giving her my vote on election day.

     But now, on the morning of the election, I have found myself undecided once more. What can I hope to accomplish by voting for a third-party candidate? Of course, I am "voicing my opinion" and exercising my right to "choose," but let's be honest: a vote for any third-party candidate is a waste of a vote, and for all intents and purposes if you aren't going to vote for the Republican or Democratic candidate, then you may as well stay home.

     Talk about frustrating. As citizens of the United States, we are constantly reminded of the great privilege and opportunity we have of living in a democratic nation where we maintain the ability to choose our leaders. Yet in a nation of over 300 million people, we get to choose between two. Sure, six plus names will appear on the ballot, but we all understand the reality of the situation with which we are presented: Romney or Obama; Republican or Democrat?

     So the fact remains that I still have a decision to make. Do I vote for Jill Stein, in hopes of ever-so-slightly loosening the grip of the two-party system? Or do I abstain from voting altogether, voicing my opinion through my refusal to do so? It's honestly a tough decision and while either of these options would allow me to grant myself a significant moral victory, the fact remains that for all practical purposes, there is only one real option, and that is to give in to our dichotomous government and choose a side; to choose "the lesser of two evils" as the cynic in me wants to say. So that is probably what I am going to do.

     All rhetoric aside, I honestly don't know how much one person (I know the presidential election is about more than the candidates themselves) can truly affect the economy (for better or for worse) in the next four years. With that being said, I'll probably end up voting on social issues; if you know me at all, that should tell you where my vote is going.