Category Archives: Nudge

Nudging: Create a chalk message

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Background: This Nudge is one of my favorites. I did it during my first round, and it was so much fun, I’m doing it again. (Also, I need to keep nudging myself until I just do it without prompting.)

The actual backstory is this is one of those activities that came out of my explorations of “Things I loved doing when I was a kid.” What made you smile when you had no limitations (as in, “you can’t draw…you’re not artisitic…”)? What tickled your creative muse? What did you get lost in? What activity simply filled you with joy?

This is the week to do it. 🙂

Nudging: Investigate free programs, put 1 on the calendar

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Backstory: This nudge is designed to physically get me out of my comfort zone by exploring new places and trying new things. The “free” part may be the big challenge, and I’m going to need to be a bit creative. Street fairs, talks, programs at the library…? I’m feeling curious, and it feels good.

Nudging: Send a handwritten thank you note to a client, boss, or coworker

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Backstory: I never had a formal mentor, but I have met several people throughout my career who have taught me by example And while I know I’ve thanked clients for work sent my way (“Thank you for your business!” is written on every invoice), I think it’s time to go a little deeper and truly acknowledge someone for who they are and what they’ve done for me.

As always, do this nudge in a way that works for you. Thank a coworker for her great attitude. Thank the woman who tirelessly coordinates your book club’s meetings or mom group’s get-togethers. Tell a neighbor his garden inspires you to keep trying to coax viable things out of your front yard.

I am a believer in handwritten notes, as they feel more personal to me. But a text message or email will work just fine.

Who do you need to appreciate?

Nudging: Play my flute for me — from Carrie

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Dear Nudgers,

Carrie contacted me over the summer when I put out a call for guest bloggers. She shared with me that she was inspired by my 52Nudges project to start her own, which she calls “Me & My Quite Contrary Life.” I’ve since picked up ideas from her nudges, and I hope you’ll visit her website and do the same.

Meanwhile, this week she is our Guest Nudger! I will be following her lead (possibly tickling the ivories on our old piano), and I encourage you to do the same by picking up one of the joys you’ve left behind in your childhood.

Thank you, Carrie! — Kathleen

Backstory: As I was creating my own list of nudges, inspired by Kathleen’s 52Nudges, I brainstormed what activities I used to enjoy but stopped doing as an adult. Instrumental music was at the top of the list.

I started playing the flute when I was in 5th grade and continued playing regularly until my early 30s. I was in marching band and concert bands throughout high school and college (eight years total), took private lessons, played in a flute choir, and played for church and nursing homes as a soloist or with a group. My dad is a talented, life-long musician, so it was in my blood and was something I excelled at with countless hours of practice and perfectionism. Music was a big part of my life and shaped who I am today.

A serious picture from my high school band days–with the same flute I have today.

The music stopped abruptly one day about five years ago. It was a combination of factors that produced my “retirement” from playing the flute and piccolo. My flute teacher/mentor/friend Jan died suddenly of cancer several years before, and I had never completely gotten over it. I was devastated by her death, and felt I couldn’t play without her; the joy was gone. In addition, I changed churches and wanted to explore other areas of my God-given talents. I packed up my flute, my constant companion for decades, and haven’t touched it again.

…until this week.

The purpose of this nudge is to play my flute for my benefit only. I won’t be playing along with someone else or because someone asked me, but because I want to play for my enjoyment.

I have many questions going into the week: What will I play? Will I remember how to do it? What will the dog think? How will I feel as I play?

“Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.”

– Elton John

Nudging: Spiff up my nightstand

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Tech issue! Just discovered this didn’t post as scheduled yesterday. Fortunately, we have all week to do this. Happy nudging!

Backstory: This was inspired by one of my favorite websites, FlyLady. It’s a free site that offers loving advice (FLY stands for “Finally Loving Yourself) on how to declutter every area of our lives in small steps. Set a timer for 15 minutes and tackle a “hot spot”, one of those many areas that have become dumping grounds over time. Then stop. Repeat tomorrow, maybe on a different spot. Bit by bit, you’ll start to see progress, she promises.

My nightstand is one of those spots:

Nightstand before.

It’s nothing like the pretty photos I ooh and ahh over in magazines such as Real Simple, Victoria, and Martha Stewart Living. In fact, the photo I see above is depressing.

So this week, I’m going to take everything off, wipe down the surfaces, and consider what I want to see there when I first get up in the morning and turn off the light at night.

What might you spiff up this week?

Nudging: No Facebook or online news for 1 week

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You know when you get so overloaded with things that you enter in the wrong date on something important? Yeah. So I just noticed this didn’t post as planned yesterday morning. In case you were wondering if I was a robot, or if this was a perfectly orchestrated project, now you know the truth. 🙂  Onward!

Backstory: I signed up to work with a nutritionist last year, to fine-tune what foods (vs. fads) work best for my system for losing weight and maintaining good health. I figured I’d be told to count calories, make adjustments to intake of carbs/fats/proteins, and amp up and create more variety in my exercise routines. So I was surprised to see “limit social media” on her list of recommendations. “It’s a source of stress,” she explained (Duh, I thought at the time), “and that contributes to how our bodies function,” including how we process calories and hang on to excess weight.

I’ve since talked with a number of friends who have received similar advice when seeking to develop healthier lifestyles, including one friend who was assigned “zero social media” for a three-month period while working through some challenges with a therapist.

There’s something to this, so I thought I’d try it out.

P.S. I recently was asked why I draw a new nudge every Sunday. “Why not just make yourself a big list and check things off?” Great question. The real answer is that the actual drawing of the nudge – the anticipation (“What will I be doing this week?”) and the delight (or groan) of the reveal of the week’s challenge – is fun. I get so few surprises at this point in life, and I love surprises. Plus, the ritual gives me a little burst of energy, which leads to a “Let’s do this!”

Nudging: Write “thinking of you” postcards to 5 old friends

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Backstory: I’ve been meaning to sit down and write long letters to friends and family members for (gulp) months. So many other things get in the way.

I am good about calling and texting, etc., but it just isn’t the same. I don’t save emails or text messages, but I do have a handwritten postcard on my desk from my grandmother (from her trip to Kenya in 1969!), and every time I look at her distinctive handwriting, I feel that she’s here with me.

So–pretty postcards*, good pen, stamps–check! I’m going to reconnect by posting a bit of me to a few friends this week.

 

 

*52Nudges is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This small revenue stream helps to off-set the expenses of maintaining this site ad-free. If you prefer not to go through the links provided, simply go directly to Amazon.com or your preferred book retailer.

Nudging: Go through one bookshelf

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Backstory: Hello! And welcome to 52Nudges 2.0! Today is #1 of 52 nudges, and I’m excited to jump in. Thank you for joining me!

The process is simple: Each Sunday around noon, I draw at random a task/challenge from The List. (Read all the possibilities and see the bowl in this post from last week.) In the following days, I do my best to complete the task, while taking note of what the process reveals for me. My intention is to nudge myself out of my old routines, discover who I am and who I am becoming, and open myself up to new experiences and opportunities.

This morning I drew: Go through one bookshelf. I’m going to pick one (probably one in my office), pull everything out, dust and polish the actual shelf, then consider what I want to replace. Maybe I’ll discover a lost “treasure” hidden behind the clutter, or maybe I’ll decide to toss/share/recycle what’s there and fill the space with something new that feels more authentically me.

Bookshelves all in order? Then you might rearrange the stuff on top of your desk or go through the old packets of seeds in the gardening shed or face the very scary “junk drawer”. Let me know what you find!

Nudging: Finalize The List 2.0

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Backstory: We’re almost there! For the past few weeks I’ve been doing exercises to come up with nudges. (Scroll back through those posts if you want to do them too.) I have a long list of challenges that encompasses Passion & Play, Creativity, Spiritual Growth, Work, Self-Care, Home Care, and miscellaneous fun stuff.

Now it’s time to cut it down.

This week I’m going to read through my list and consider if each proposed nudge fits the following criteria:

  • Is this something I can do in one week’s time?
  • Is it inexpensive?
  • Does it make me uncomfortable? (It should.)
  • Is it fun? (Most should have some element of fun.)

Mid-week I’ll share my final list so you can see it too. Then I’m going to cut it into strips, wad each strip into a ball, and put those balls in my specially designated bowl.

52Nudges 2.0 starts Sunday, September 8!

It’s never too late to join in. Feel free to do the nudges I pull with me, or simply read along as I go through the process and take inspiration whenever it comes.

If you’d like to create your own list, you’ll find some items for inspiration in the right sidebar.

Finally, if you haven’t already, sign up to automatically receive the posts in your inbox by entering your email address in the Subscribe box above. It’s FREE! I hope you’ll also invite friends to join us in this adventure.

 

Nudged: Look to books for inspiration

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Backstory: I’m getting ready to launch 52Nudges 2.0, and my last task before I finalize The List is to look to some books for inspiration. To find some new nudges, I might pick up books on:

  • Travel
  • Health & Fitness
  • Spiritual Growth
  • Self-Improvement
  • Creativity
  • Financial Planning

Take some time this week to look over your shelf–or wander your public library–and see what comes. If you need ideas, check out the list of resources under “For Inspiration” in the right column of this page.

Then mark your calendar…

52Nudges 2.0 starts Sunday, September 8!

What Happened: I looked over my rough list of Nudges and noted a healthy dose of tasks under Self-Care, De-cluttering, Creativity, and Passion & Play. But Spirit seemed to be lacking. So I pulled a few books that have long sat on my shelves and dove in for inspiration. First up, The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Life and The Lord’s Prayer: An Interpretation by Emmet Fox.

My intention was to skim, but I was quickly reminded how it’s often those “little” books that get you into “trouble”. A quick skim? Riiight. I ended up reading just a couple of pages every day, taking notes, mulling over the lessons. There’s so much more I want to get from this, but at this point, here are some of the ideas that might make their way onto The List of Nudges:

  • Allow one channel to close; look—with excitement and anticipation—for its replacement to open
  • Claim my Bread (i.e., stop being so stubbornly self-sufficient and allow someone to help me)
  • Pick an affirmation and work it to fruition
  • Pick a random passage from the Bible and really study it
  • Let something go (100% turn it over to God*)
  • Practice scientific prayer
  • Buy a new candle and light it every day with prayer requests for others

The Ah-Hah: As the lessons and ideas sank in, I was struck by something rather profound. Let me give a little backstory: After I moved cities 10 years ago, I made a real effort to keep in touch with the long-time friends I’d left behind. With most, the effort was reciprocal, and I continue to be grateful for the gifts of those deep relationships.

But one in particular has been the source of some pain. Even though I’ve reached out to my old friend with calls and cards and text messages, the only times I’ve heard from her is when she’s needed favors. And not just small things. I’ve been asked to do big jobs for her for free “because we’re friends.” Earlier this year I allowed myself some clarity that this was no longer a friendship, and I let it go.

I recalled this history as I read Sermon on the Mount this week and it dawned on me: I am such a hypocrite! It’s not that I’ve been unequal with a friend, it’s that I’ve been a taker with God. How often do I get in touch just to say “Thinking of you!” or “Wassup?” or “Have a great day!”? Um, never. Once in a blue moon, like when I am inspired to write in a gratitude journal, I remember to say “Thank you” for life, for love, for clean water and the roof over my head, but most days, our one-sided conversations are all about “This is what I need…want…please help…I’m begging you….”

So I’m going to include some weekly nudges that will help me build a better—more personal and appreciative—relationship with God.

As you consider possible nudges for yourself, you might think about which relationships in your life need nurturing. Perhaps you can take a first step toward healing a rift with a family member, reconnecting with an old friend, or getting to know one of your co-workers. Or perhaps the relationship you most need to attend to is the one you have with yourself.

*For simplicity, I am using “God” here. Please substitute whatever term or name works for you.