Still banging on about creativity and discipline!

My dear reader may recall that my random word of the year was discipline. I am discovering the link between discipline and habits. Genius eh? Bet no-one else has thought of that*. Then, there is a strong link between establishing habits and having a super bloody low and highly specific bar. Not exactly sure what a specific bar would look like but give me some rope. For example, I need discipline to exercise. I am not what you'd call a natural exerciser in any way, shape (definitely not shape) or form. But I like it sometimes while I do exercise and I feel better if I do. If I say Exercise once a day it doesn't happen. If I say Do 30 Days of Yoga and one 20 minute Pilates tape every day, it usually happens...it becomes a habit. If I say walk for 20 minutes, three times a week, I usually walk for over an hour 5 times a week. However....if I said walk for an hour 5 times a week, I wouldn't do it. But...let's be honest, there is really not much more boring than talking bout someone's wholesome exercise routine. What has this become? The only worse thing might be real estate. Cue wry smile. I am just saying, if something's a habit, you need less discipline!The habit/ discipline I DO want to talk about is part of my creativity routine. Or as I like to think of it, daily Vitamin C. Once again, the secret for me has been LOW BAR and CLEAR STEPS. That's the beauty of a month of carving a lino tile. I tell myself that enlightenment lies in carving one tiny tile once a day. What actually happens often been several tiles each day and the making of quite bit of jewellery! Do I really need to be so sneaky with myself to get results. Apparently, yes. Well, whatever works. The tiles don't need to be for anything saleable, or even good. I just have to carve one tile. I carve in stages and stamp as I go. If I preferred a tile in an earlier iteration, I can always do it again. (You can see this in the picture of a page from my carving journal, top left, where my favourite was the very first carve. I have carved another stamp of the stage I liked best.) There is no pressure. Most tiles are a celebration of seeds. And some have already emerged as jewellery as you can see in the photos. I'll keep you posted on how I am going. Mwah. *Only lots of other people like James Clear etc