Keep, Start, Stop
TL;DR: Make your own keep, stop, start list at any time to help you focus on what’s working and what’s not serving you well.
This past week, I had a wonderful virtual meet-up with several women in the personal knowledge management (PKM) community. This is a community that is largely dominated by white men so the reflection of female and non-binary identities was beautiful. We also had some great conversations and got a lot done.
One of my speed dating chats during the session revolved around anti-resolutions and it made me think of a tool I’ve used loads of times with teams but not often enough with myself - a “Keep, Stop, Start” list. So, I grabbed a keyboard and blank screen after the meeting and started making myself a Keep, Stop, Start list for 2024. Before I share my list, I’ll give you a little more definition on the tool.
You essentially make three lists:
Keep - things you’re doing right now that are working well and you’re going to keep doing and iterating on to further improve.
Stop - things that are no longer serving you that you’re going to stop doing. These are things like negative or bad habits, activities you no longer enjoy but are still doing, etc.
Start - things that you want to start doing.
I recommend you strive for as many things on the keep and stop list as you can but go gentle on the start list. Most people have trouble with the STOP list. A way we resist change is by thinking that something that’s not serving us will get better or will eventually serve us. Unfortunately, that’s not usually right. So, instead we have to force ourselves to inaction and to stop doing that thing.
If you try this, let me know something on your list that you’re going to keep, stop, and/or start! I’d love to hear from you. Hit reply and submit by email or comment below.
Keep
focusing on my health. The cancer diagnosis has made me realize just how important my overall health is and how little attention I was really paying to it. From simple things like using lotion regularly to focusing on brushing my teeth for two minutes at a time every time I brush to trying (although failing at the moment) to get 7 - 8 hours of sleep a night, I’m doing all the things we know are good for us but are sometimes hard to do.
using Obsidian every day. I still have workflows to tweak, templates to make, maybe even a new vault to explore. But the community conversation with those lovely ladies this week reminded me of why I love that tool for learning and growth.
reading. I’m on a 20+ day reading streak and I’m enjoying the rhythm of it right now.
brainstorming. I’ve been doing a bunch of mind maps and brainstorms lately for ideas, perspectives, organizing frameworks, and more. I love the creative process of it all. I don’t care if nothing comes from it other than time spent getting stuff out of my head (this is hard for me!). Just seeing the ideas in physical form is good enough.
Spanish practice to keep my brain sharp. Chemo is horrible on your brain. I’m fuzzy for three or four solid days after an infusion. Doing spanish - even just one or two lessons - in Duolingo every day is really good for me.
Stop
waiting for the other shoe to drop. The cancer diagnosis has caused some adjustment disorder and traumatic stress. When I find myself in these moments of obsessing about what bad thing might be next around the bend, I need to grab a journal, write down some thoughts, and then go on.
setting huge goals without planning for them. I “launched” something for February without having any real plans behind it. I know I’ll get it done but just because the idea struck me doesn’t mean it needs to get done right this second. (More on what I launched below…I’ve done the planning now and I’m excited about the idea - just should have moved a little slower on the “launch”)
waiting for motivation. Just get moving. One of my biggest learnings of 2023 is that motivation comes after action, not before. If you’re waiting to get motivated to do the hard thing, you’re going to be waiting a long time. Just start with one tiny piece of the hard thing - something you know you can do - and see how far you get.
Start
I’ve got two habits comfortably nailed - reading and Spanish practice. I’ve love to add journaling (even if it’s by voice or video) to my daily streak list. I think this would be incredibly healthy for me to do.
Refactoring my notes in Obsidian - Nicole van der Hoeven, one of my idols in the PKM community, recently did a video on the process of refactoring your notes. Refactoring from the software perspective is improving a piece of code simply to improve it. I’d like to do this with my notes on a regular basis. I think it would help my learning as well.
If you’d like to give this a try, I’ve made a free printable that you can download now from my community. Join for free at http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.circle.so.
Some Things You Might Find Interesting
What I published:
Not So Christmas Baking - Includes my famous Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe!
Keep Up With My Cancer Journey: If you’re reading this on Monday, I’m 12 days past my first chemo session. Definitely on the upward swing. If you’d like to follow along in more detail on this journey, you can request access to my Cancer Journey website at https://www.mylifeline.org/invitation/Monroe4702670/c4d9a0945939697870a9267ec2cd951230b25b0e9f023ca466233659967b5e46
World’s Worst Roads: Gayle and I had some fun this week guessing where some of our favorite roadways would be on this list. Check it out.
Master Chef Junior Holiday Championship: I adore a good cooking competition and Master Chef has always been a favorite. Last week, we watched the two episode, four hour mini-season of Master Chef Junior Holiday Championship. These kids were AMAZING! I’m going to use the idea of adding Everything Bagel Seasoning to my Pigs in a Blanket that I’m taking for our family Christmas dinner.
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