Creatures of habit

My working day almost always begins at 05:30 and I follow a "morning ritual" that never changes, whether I'm in the office here at home or a hotel room.

However....

This morning I joined Annie in the dark and cold on a very early dog walk, followed by a trip to Waitrose to buy every conceivable item of food a drink for the festivities ahead.

We were back home, done, dusted and shopping unpacked by 10:30 - and so I began my working day at 11:00.

But.......

Could not approach the day in any other way then to imagine it was 05:30 and go through the same morning ritual of:

• write personal journal;

• read The Daily Stoic;

• check overnight social media;

• scan The Guardian online;

• Check through overnight emails;

• Re-prioritise task list for the day ahead;

• write and publish blog.

So here I am with that list completed - it's approaching Noon and my head says it's 09:00.

Am I the only one here who is a creature of habit?

My life is a series of routines - micro-Groundhog activities that I repeat, day after day.

We even stay for the same 2 weeks in the same holiday cottage in Greece - 16 times since 2006.

We discover good restaurants and stick with them.

We watch box-sets start to finish before moving on to the next one.

I can't comeback to a trilogy - I have to read them all in one (or in the case of The Expanse - all 10 books).

As a runner and/or a cyclist I wear the tarmac thin by revisiting the same routes.

I must be the easiest person in the world to kidnap.

Then again........

Perhaps that's why my business is successful and I hit my personal and professional goals predictably on time.

Tick, tick, tick the list.

Given the number of books, videos, courses and schools on how to run your business and your life smoothly and prosperously - it begs the question "why do people get it wrong?"

I suggest it's often because they don't create those Groundhog business and life systems, rinse and repeat every day and pivot when the landscape changes.

Ad lib belongs in the arts.

I was once asked "do you every do anything spontaneously?", to which my reply was "Yes - every Saturday afternoon at 3pm."

Only kidding - but you get the point.

I like being this predictable - it gives me peace of mind and reliable results.

So that's the blog done - it's 09:00 in my head and 12:00 in the UK - time for morning coffee.