image/attractiveness/5: little & often; regularly

                         


Little routines are the key

I cannot stop thinking about this: "little but often; regularly". In attractiveness context, basically it means:

•  that you do what you do that you can fit in & maintain fitting it in
• you do it often: over & over
• and regularly: like clockwork.

I know that I am always seduced by the latest & greatest. I just know that if I have the latest:

•  skin care
• make-up
• food regime
• new age beliefs
• the latest exercise
• the newest wardrobe must-haves

I know, I really do know...that my life will be so much more wonderful. Which is strange because my values are actually none of these things. My values in this area are to have small doable routines. For everything, really.

Values and image

I know that in reality I do not, will not, buy products whereby animals have suffered in the production, which is most hi-tech skincare & make-up. 

I rely on dear friends & one of my kids to sort me out with make-up & skincare, & it's usually organic. 

I also know that food fads, in the form of food beliefs, change regularly. Which is totally vexing, for me. 

I still prefer yoga exercise & also would rather do 10-20 yoga squats, a bit faster than you would do in a yoga class, than do the latest keep fit moves. And I cannot handle having too many clothes, as, for me, that's a stressor. My libra sun & moon find it just too hard deciding what clothes to wear if I have too many. (As all librans know....those sort of decisions are not our strong point......)

So, what I always actually end up doing, is.....the same things over & over. Things that fit in with my values. Things that, for me, have proven to work. And even more importantly:

• I can do them easily
• I can do them regularly. Like clockwork
• they fit easily into my life
• occasionally, I do change something, just to see how it works, but, if it's a stressor, doesn't fit easily into my life - out it goes.

My criteria

I realised quite young, that it was better to do one thing well....in my case it was yoga, rather than chop & change whatever interested oneself. My criteria was that what ever I was looking at doing:

• it had to have a feel good factor
• it had to be beneficial
• fit easily into my life
• be affordable. 

And yoga ticked all of those boxes.

I find it helpful to still follow this attitude. So my skincare routine has to be:

• easily doable (meaning simple)
• make me feel good
• affordable (as well as be cruelty free

Le diet

And, occasionally I change my diet, to do with the seasons. Cold food in winter makes me feel "down", so I have porridge nearly every morning. (no decision needed) but I'm also sure that as the warmer weather sets in....I will want to change this. 

I also have changed my at-home evening meal: protein & a steamed green vegetable. It suits me fine, & I just use whatever protein I've got, whether it's eggs, legumes, fish or similar. I like it & because I can do it little & often, & regularly, I find I just automatically do it.

The problem with too many choices

The thing being, when we are always making choices about things, we seem to get choice fatigue & run out of just easily making good choices, as the day wears on. Therefore, I like to "save" my choices for important things. Because I notice that it just is easier to make a good decision then.

And with:

• diet
• skin care
• exercise
• what we drink
• sleep habits 

these are all maintenance things, rituals. It's these habits that keep us keeping on. They keep us feeling good, looking good.

So what can we do to tweak our routines so that they are easy, so that we can do little & often? It's easier than you would think.