I’m a meticulous tracker—but probably not for the reasons you’d expect.
It’s not about control. It’s not even about optimization. I track habits because I consider each one, practiced faithfully, as a small act of devotion to the person I’m becoming.
In my habit-building course, I walk students through an exercise in which we reverse-engineer their daily habits to a single, grounding question: Who are you becoming? Because habits that aren’t tethered to something deeper are just noise—a random collection of things you saw on TikTok or borrowed from someone else’s life entirely that might get you to their destination but not your own.
The habits I track aren’t random. They’ve been chosen with intention for future me—hand-selected to support her goals, her ambitions, her dreams. The woman I am growing into. And every time I show up for one of them, even imperfectly, I’m casting a vote for her.
So now, without further ado, here’s the breakdown of my habits for March 2026 with some habit formation notes sprinkled in:
The Habits
Strength Training- 100% (NEW HABIT)
Walking- 77%
I would say this is my most nonnegotiable habit, but it did get a little wonky towards the end of the month, where we were doing a lot more lifting, driving, cleaning, and hustling than we are used to. On days when I am used to taking a longer walk, I have to squeeze in some work. That said, I still feel like I did pretty well with my walking habit, and I’m reminding myself that this month had circumstances beyond my control.
Protein Before Coffee- 90% (NEW HABIT)
Does anyone else feel completely inundated by all the how-to videos that basically tell you that you have to do a million things to achieve hormone health? Same. I’ve decided I cannot do it all, so I’ve picked a single habit to cultivate this month. And the only way it happened? I stocked up on easy proteins in advance. The days I missed the habit were the days I forgot to buy more hard-boiled eggs the day before. Lane commented that I should be boiling the eggs myself to save money. Honestly, hard-boiling my eggs right now while figuring out how to parent two and also run a business isn’t gonna happen, so store-bought it is. Whatever will help you get the habit in—the path of least resistance—is the way to go. We’re working smarter, not harder, in this season of life.
Creatine- 73% (NEW HABIT)
Turndown Service- 90%
I have a longer blog on my turndown service here, but basically, it’s a nightly routine where we flip the house into ‘evening mode.’ It’s a time to clear clutter, put things away, light candles, and pull out the cozy blankets. We’re big on coziness in our house, and the turndown service is the perfect way for us to transition from work mode to rest mode.
Affirmations– 108%
Create Something- 97% (NEW HABIT)
I walked into this month wanting this habit to be flexible and, for lack of a better word, creative. So I didn’t hold myself to a standard of writing or doing things for work. I embraced the joy of creating. One day, I staged spaces in my house. Another day, we made a batch of banana bread. One day, we created a lepracuan trap for school.
This one truly surprised me, and I am getting more into the details in the WHAT WORKED WELL section of this report. Scroll down to read.
Reading with Novi- 43%
I’m not afraid to say this habit failed miserably, and instead of feeling #momguilt, I took it as a teachable moment. Looking back, I think this habit was more for me than for my daughter. There never seemed to be a good time in the day to execute it. Making her practice reading after a full day of school felt cruel (and she wasn’t enjoying it), and at night she just wanted to curl up and have someone read Harry Potter to her. Same, girl. Same.
When I dug deeper, I realized I was forcing this habit out of a sense of urgency. And I really felt like I had to take my foot off the gas and find ways to engage her in less pressure-filled environments. If ever a habit becomes performative, like it’s serving a goal of efficiency and expediency when that was never the point, I feel the freedom to squash it.
Daily Prayer- 93%
I’m currently going through the 40-Day Draw the Circle Challenge, and I found that one day to ensure this habit almost always happened was with one simple decision: keep the book in plain sight. When the book was tucked away, I would almost forget. When the book was on the countertop, I would pick it up and start reading where I left off.
If you’re cultivating a new habit that requires a daily commitment, make it easy and noticeable so your brain is more likely to be triggered to begin.
Practicing Sabbath- 100%
What Worked Well
80/20 Mentality
Last year, I made a simple rule for myself: I would embrace an 80/20 mindset. I committed to cultivating my habits 80% of the time, allowing room for the 20%—for the days when life happens: sick days, days with less sleep, snow days.
When I applied the 80/20 mentality to a month with 31 days, it worked out to about six days where I could miss a habit without feeling like I was failing. So, for example, if my goal was to walk 10,000 steps a day, I could miss six days and still be living within that 80/20 mindset.
This has been a total game-changer for me. I’ve always followed the 80/20 principle when it comes to diet, but I never thought to apply it to other areas of my life. As a mom with a million things on my plate, it’s unrealistic to think I’m always going to nail every day—to always hit my step goal or sit down for quiet time. I’ve since started calling the missed days “grace days,” and I felt like I needed more grace than usual this month!
Since implementing this simple rule, I feel a sense of freedom I didn’t expect. It’s motivated me to keep going even after I’ve had days where I don’t feel like I’m showing up as the best version of myself.
Visual Progress
This was my first month back to strength training in months (hello pregnancy with Hashimoto’s and C-section recovery), and it felt SO good to be back to cultivating strength in a way that fuels and energizes me.
One way I made this habit more real, beyond the habit tracker, was by pulling out a glass jar and placing it on my desk. Every time I complete a strength training workout, I put a bead in the jar. I can see the progress in real-time.
Of course, my daughter wanted to get in on the fun, and we had a great conversation about why mommy is putting the beads in the jar—how each bead symbolizes a hard thing mommy did. She created her own jar and has been slowly adding beads to it when she accomplishes or tries something hard. It became a teachable moment I wasn’t expecting.
Small Things on Repeat
I’ve learned over the years that trying to onboard a ton of habits and do a complete overnight overhaul never works. And so I stuck to the wisdom I’ve gathered over the years, and I took two small steps towards healthier hormones and aging: protein before coffee and creatine.
It’s kind of silly, but I felt so much victory every morning going downstairs to have a hard-boiled egg or a Siggi’s yogurt before my coffee. I know it is truly such a small thing, but I kept reminding myself, this is making a difference. This is helping your hormones. This is care. This is nourishment. Don’t belittle the small stuff. It matters. The 1% shifts and chances (coined by James Clear) matter.
Things I Learned + What’s Next
Day 19 (Once Again!)
I included this in my last report, but it was once again proven that day 19 is indeed the trickiest day. Those days, 20-25, were once again a blur to me. There were a few days when I found myself forgetting to even pull out the tracker, and I had to play catch-up.
So, if you’re trying to build new rhythms and disciplines, be warned: Day 19 and the following days are tough. Don’t be surprised if you feel like giving up or even quitting altogether. Something in the air during that time makes it feel more challenging. But trust me, if you push through and stick with it past this threshold, the breakthrough is right around the corner.
Anchors in the Chaos
In the middle of the month, we were thrust headfirst into the home-buying and selling process, and I’ll be totally honest: the fact that any habits were honed is a miracle to me. This has been one of the more hectic months of my life, but I learned something valuable about my habits within it:
Your habits can be an anchor. When the world feels chaotic, and a lot of things in your life seem out of control, habits can anchor you to health. Even when everything around us in flux, I take solace in my routines because I know I chose them from a place of who I want to become. Regardless of what feels inconsistent, that never changes… There is someone I am becoming, and baby steps in the midst of craziness are still baby steps.
Up Next
The big thing I’m coming around to for the next month is bedtime, wake-ups, and water intake. My endocrinologist told me that one of the biggest indicators of healthy serotonin release in my brain is reliable, predictable circadian rhythms and hydration. That means I will have to put my revenge bedtime on hold and get up a little earlier (all while filling up my big jug of water that I somedays love and somedays totally resent).
Today was day one of getting up earlier, and I felt it deep in my soul that this is a habit I need to cultivate in the season ahead. I felt refreshed. My cup felt full. And I felt like I was able to receive my girls rather than react to them when they woke up an hour later. I’ll let you know next month how that habit-tending goes.
I Want to Hear From You!
Overall, March was a really great month of habit tracking. I feel pretty proud of myself—if I can stick to these habits during the craziest month of our lives, then it’s only up from here! If you want to track your own habits, you can grab my free habit tracker download. And if you have any questions about habit formation or discipline, feel free to leave them in the comments—I’d love to answer them for you!
p.s.
If you ever feel like you need a nudge in creating habits you love and that support the person you’re actively becoming, tag me in. I teach you everything I know about habit formation and building dream routines in my course Your Routine Overhaul. I would love to have you in class! You can get started for $29 today!
If you're into encouraging pep talks, hope-filled devotionals, tips for building better routines, the occasional JonBenet Ramsey deep-dive + some solid book recs-- you've arrived at your destination.
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