Last week I wrote about church and the gym.
Two places that are only for me. One day a week each. A place on the calendar I take seriously.
That was the start. It was never the whole thing.
This week I have been thinking about everything in between.
Because in my work, the big days were never the ones that worried me.
Opening Day? We planned for that.
A new launch? We staffed for that.
What made an operation strong was how it ran on a regular Tuesday. When nobody was watching. When it was just the systems doing what they were built to do.
I spent years building that for other people.
Support operations that did not depend on one person having a good day.
Partner teams across different companies, held to one standard.
Processes that kept working on the ordinary days, not just the peak ones.
Then I looked at my own life.
Church on Sunday.
The gym on Monday.
What was holding the other five days?
Honestly? Not much of a system.
I got honest about how I was eating. Fast food had become the default, not the exception. It was not a decision I was making. It was the plan I had by not having a plan.
So I made a plan. A short list.
The right snacks in the house, so the easy choice is also a good one.
More meals cooked at home.
Nothing perfect. Just a plan I can actually follow on a normal week.
Water is the same kind of small.
The bottle sits where I can see it.
I count it.
First bottle of the day, then the next one.
Last week, I finished four days at 33, 33, 49, and 49 ounces. Small wins, but mine.
Yesterday morning I had my first bottle at the window while the city woke up. One bottle down before the day even started.
Then there is the devotional. Five quiet minutes with God before the day starts asking for things. Not a Sunday only thing. A daily thing.
The words meet me in the morning and they stay with me through the day. One line has been sitting with me since last week: God is thorough.
If He is thorough with the big things, He is thorough with the small ones too. With the snacks and the water and the five quiet minutes.
None of this is dramatic.
That is kind of the point.
Systems are not dramatic. They are small decisions, made once, that keep showing up for you every day after.
I've spent years understanding that consistency isn't just about discipline. It's also about creating an environment where the right decisions become easier to make.
I understood that when I was building operations. Now I'm learning to apply it to myself.
Putting myself first is not one big decision. It is a hundred small ones.
The church service and the gym visit hold the week. The meal plan, the snacks, the water, the quiet minutes hold the days in between.
I am still figuring this out. I am still in the middle of it.
What I know now is that one day a week was the door. The daily practice is the house I am building behind it.
I need more than a day on the calendar. I need a life that makes room for me every day.
Maybe you have your own version of this. Something small you keep meaning to do for yourself, every day, not just once a week.
What would it look like to give yourself that one small thing, starting today?
I am asking myself the same thing.
With Bri 🤍
Think With Bri: What is one small thing you could do every day, just for you?