All the Small Things

I have been thinking about small changes recently.  It is the end of January and many resolution-ers may have already faltered or have gotten frustrated by their goals.  When you think about how much there is to do in a day, it is easy to see why! I am beginning to think that enacting smaller changes and building on those in small increments is much better than trying to revamp one's entire life in a day.  (I did not come to this conclusion on my own, see Nerd Fitness's take on the issue, in its typical, nerdy way).

What am I starting with? Here are a few small changes I'm making:

• Green Tea: Particularly when I sit at my desk all day, drinking a mug of green tea is super easy to do...and reduces the temptation for me to have a diet coke! The health benefits of green tea are well documented so I will not go into too much detail, but it is definitely something that helps me feel better about myself at the end of the day.
• Flossing: No, it wasn't the news that this is the single best thing to do for your heart health that convinced me to start flossing (also, I found out that was not true while writing this post)...it was the three cavities my dentist recently found.  I despise going to the dentist, for the usual reasons, and the news of a repeat visit to handle that finally made me change my ways.  I have now been flossing nightly, at least 5-6 times a week -- small changes, right?
• An exercise ball at work: I technically have not started this, but I will starting soon.  The many dangers of sitting all day have been in the news recently, and I decided I need to change something.  I am not a big fan of standing, as a general concept, nor does the idea of a treadmill or exercise bike desk sound appealing.  The one thing I think sounds interesting is the bike that also powers your computer, but it is a bit out of my price range.  I decided instead to buy an exercise ball to sit on.  It should encourage me to move around a little more, and engage my core rather than let it atrophy while I bill hours. 
• Reading every night: This is something I should have gotten in the habit of doing a long time ago.  It helps me now that I have the Kindle app on my iPhone so I do not have to deal with the worry about keeping up with a book when I travel or anything.  I am currently reading A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, since I have heard his style is also good for lawyers.  
• Note cards on the bathroom mirror: This may be my most unusual habit.  I have a fairly large bathroom mirror so I will put things I'm trying to remember on note cards and post them to the mirror.  I have a few bible verses up there to commit to memory, as well as the tongue twisters and verbal warmups from Tongue-Tied America, a book written by two of my UVA professors.  A good lawyer should, theoretically at least, have good verbal communication skills. This is the way I am attempting to improve mine.

These small changes will hopefully become routine, and then I can find other small ways to increase my health and happiness.  What small changes are you making in your daily life?