The Habits That Changed My Life (And Why I Choose Them Carefully)
Every morning, before I head into my art studio, I write a few lines in my five-year journal.
If you’ve never seen one of these journals, each page represents one date, with just enough room to write a few lines each year. When you come back to that same page a year later, your previous entry is waiting for you.
I’ve been doing this for thirteen years now, which means I’m on my third journal. And honestly, one of my favorite parts of the morning is looking back at what I was doing on this exact day one year ago, five years ago, even ten years ago.
Sometimes what I read makes me laugh. Other entries remind me of something I’d completely forgotten. But mostly I’m fascinated by watching my own life unfold in these tiny daily snapshots. I can see how much I’ve changed, the choices that led me in directions I never expected, and how something that once felt enormously important eventually became something I barely remember.
Recently, though, I noticed something else.
When I look back over all those years, there’s a very clear pattern. Once I decide something matters enough to make it a habit, I tend to stick with it for a very, very long time.
I knew I wanted to make art and get better, and the only way I knew how to do that was to keep showing up.
I’ve written a newsletter almost every week for four years. I’ve posted on Instagram four times a week since 2024, and for several years before that I posted every single day. I’ve strength trained four times a week for more than a year.
And then there’s the habit that probably changed my life more than any other.
Several years ago, I committed to making art for at least an hour every day for 365 consecutive days.
At the time, I wasn’t thinking, This is how I’m going to find my artistic voice. I simply knew that I wanted to make art and get better at it, and the only way I knew how to do that was to keep showing up.
So I did.
Day after day, I made art. I’m sure some of it was wonderful, some of it was terrible, and most of it probably fell somewhere in between. But the quality of what I made on any particular day turned out not to be nearly as important as the fact that I came back the next day and did it again.
By the end of that year, something had shifted. I wasn’t trying so hard to figure out what my art was supposed to look like anymore. I’d made enough of it that my own voice had begun to emerge naturally.
That one habit changed the direction of my art and, eventually, my life.
While you’re in the middle of it, it can feel like nothing much is happening
I wish I could tell you there was some magical thing I discovered along the way, but really, most of the things that have made a significant difference in my life have happened the same way.
I started something small and kept doing it.
That’s how I found my artistic voice. It’s how I built my art business. It’s how I’ve created a writing practice and a strength-training practice. It’s even how I’ve managed to fill three five-year journals with thirteen years of my life.
None of those things felt particularly dramatic on day 17 or day 82. That’s the funny thing about consistency. While you’re in the middle of it, it can feel like nothing much is happening. Then you turn around years later and realize you’ve traveled an enormous distance.
If I’m considering adding a new daily or weekly habit to my life, I don’t automatically think, Sure, I can fit that in. I think about whether I really want to be doing it six months from now. Or a year from now. Maybe even five years from now.
Every habit takes up some amount of space, even the good ones. If I say yes to doing something four times a week, that’s four little pieces of my life I’ve committed before the week even begins.
And there are only so many pieces.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what deserves those pieces of my life. The habits I choose need to support what I say matters most to me, rather than simply becoming another collection of things I faithfully check off a list.
That has made me much more intentional about what I begin.
Maybe Consistency Is a Form of Self-Love
The more I’ve thought about all of this, the more I’ve started to see consistency a little differently.
Maybe consistency isn’t really about discipline.
Maybe it’s a form of self-love.
When I decide that something matters to me and then continue showing up for it, I’m keeping a promise I made to myself.
Not perfectly, of course. I miss things. I get tired. Life interrupts. I certainly don’t need a perfect streak to prove that I’m committed to something.
What matters is that I come back.
I think that’s especially true with art.
You don’t have to make art every day for 365 days because I did. That particular commitment happened to be exactly what I needed at that point in my life. Yours might be making art every Saturday morning, writing in a journal for five minutes before bed, walking three days a week, or calling someone you love every Sunday.
The habit itself isn’t the point.
The question is whether there’s something you care about enough to keep showing up for, even when the individual days don’t seem to be producing much of anything. Because eventually those days add up.
And sometimes, without realizing it’s happening, all those small promises you kept to yourself begin to change who you are.
I’d love to hear about your experience with this. What’s one habit you’ve stayed with long enough to see it truly change something in your life? Tell me about it in the comments.
Creative Sparks
A few things that sparked my curiosity recently:
- Stunning home renovated by true artists
- How 30-second breaks can reshape your response to stress
- My new fave hair tie shared by a fellow artist
- Favorite art supply of the moment
- My five-year journal
Sometimes inspiration has absolutely nothing to do with art supplies. I love collecting things that make me stop, think, look more closely, or simply see something in a different way.
Are you interested in learning more about how to incorporate your collage papers into your art?
Check out my Collage Workshops!
*I’ve included affiliates links that pay me for products I share, at no additional charge to you.
