Wednesday 22 May - 9 days until winter... each day brings more chill to the air! The water, however, teases us... one day dropping in temperature, the next, increasing, confuddling everyone with decisions - is it time for neoprene, or am I brave enough to obvigate the need for neoprene and hold out until the winter WWW badge is safe?
Water temp: 18.1 degrees (Goddess Amphitrite you are playing with us!)
air temp at 7am: 4.6 degrees! Brrrrr
conditions: lake Manly!
Vibe: happy- smiles and friendships, basking in apricity warm up the morning
Chilly mornings mean its hard to part with warm doonas and blankets and puffer jackets become essential farshun items at the beach (watch for the obligatory puffer farshun blog which I am sure will appear at some stage!).. in summer, its so light in the mornings, its warm, and a lot easier to leap out of bed, drive, walk, ride or scooter to swim.... the journey becomes a habit. As the mornings get darker and colder, despite the incentive of colourful sunrises, the (mostly) clear waters revealing an abundance of sea life, cuttlefish and port jackson shark mating season (and biology lessons from Lainey!), and the euphoric feeling being energised after a swim & coffee and catch ups: theres that first step - dragging away from that warm doona. Which begs the question, how does one convert a summer habit into a (more difficult) winter habit?
Many of you will have heard of "Atomic Habits" by James Clear (if you havent, the interweb is full of info!). Atoms, as we learned in Chemistry, are small particles. Atoms underpin the theory - a habit is made up of small actions (etc). For example, "habit stacking" - linking something/s you want to do or achieve, with something/s you need to do along the journey. So, you want to swim, and to swim in winter, you NEED to wake up and part with your doona... If you're struggling with that necessary first step in order to enjoy a wonderful winter swim, then James recommends focusing on identifying how to achieve the need, ie that first steps, for example, setting an alarm & getting out of bed. The first steps are the hardest and once achieved, all the other steps (the journey) lead to a wonderful magical winter swim! If you havent read his book or subscribed to his newsletter (theres a podcast too), then I highly recommend it! The book is full of insights and stories which I found interesting and its always good to read/hear different perspectives. Another insight that resonated with me was the importance of embracing and enjoying the journey in forming the habits needed to reach a goal. There's even an app in which you can create a "habit tracker" - i heard about the app recently (yes ive clearly been living under a rock) and I have been using it!
Good luck everyone as you transform from your summer to your winter habit! Here are a few anecdotes from this mornings puffer clad swimmers!
Helen sets her alarm & drinks a cup of hot tea before venturing to Manly to swim. Sarah from Sales swims super early at 6am, she doesnt need to set an alarm, wakes up at precisely 0430, stretches, cycles to manly, swims, cycles to yoga then indulges in a hot coffee
Sally fills her hot water bottle, and as she has committed to show up, that is the incentive she needs! Natasha adopt a "first five seconds" habit, leaps out of bed, actually focusing on the end goal is sufficient for her. George "owns" her decision to show up - she shows up when she says she will!
Sarah (who flies to the UK this afternoon - with her seatbelt firmly fastened!) ensures all her gear is ready and waiting the night before.
I didnt see many canines out this morning waiting for their humans - perhaps they decided to practice a winter habit of staying in bed?
As always, stay safe, and, as Guy reminded us today to take care of each other and ourselves, be kind and have a wonderful wednesday !
Jocelyn
PS - always remember your keep cup!
PPS - only 9 days to go until the winter badge race begins!
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