Routine is doing what you want

You need a rhythm before you can break into a solo

“Slow down, calm down, don't worry, don't hurry, trust the process.”

–Alexandra Stoddard

Eat pumpkin pie for breakfast, every single day: that is a routine. End every phone call with “Aye Aye Cap’n”: that qualifies too. A routine is doing what you want, as much as you want, and that is a life well lived.

Routines have a bad rap. The word is related to “route” which implies a path to some goal, but emphasizing goals is a mistake. Goals are dark monoliths that cast a shadow on all that you do in their name.

Routines carry no such judgment. At their core, routines are action and intention in repetition. They live in the body, while goals are abstractions that dwell in your mind and taunt you until they are realized. For pure, uncut acheivement, bias towards goals. For achievement and contentment, bias toward routines.

• One might object: I can’t reach {goal related to perfection} without doing {routine that I don't want to do} every day.

• One might consider: You don’t want it. To choose a goal is to accept the routine that gets you there. And to choose a routine is to accept its consquences too; if daily breakfast pie leads you someplace uncool, you gotta drop the routine.

• One might object, again: Routines are just so repetitive.

• One might consider, once more: Isn’t that fabulous? Once you surrender goals you don’t want and commit to activities that you like, that take you someplace cool, why wouldn’t you do them again and again?

Novelty is liberating for the mind, but it can only take shape against a backdrop of familiarity. You need a rhythm before you can break into a solo. You need a little friction before you can take flight.