I hate habit, routines, and patterns. Bleh. I can't stand doing the same thing every day, in the same order. I am a perfectionist in "HOW" things get done, but not order. I detest morning routines, and bedtime routines. But this year I really tried developing some routines because I thought it would help with my performance and life balance. My morning routine ended up...wake up, take Zeo off and dock it, take pulse, take Osat, open Restwise, fill out half the questions, go pee, check color, note in Restwise, get nude, weight, note in rest wise, put clothes on, check email, check twitter. Oy. So, in my period of annual reflection I though I would make a list of things that matter and things that don't. Now, beware, this list is personal and a bit theoretical in places. It's my list, yours is probably different, but hey, maybe it will make you think about your own list and question some of the things you do that you think matter...but maybe they don't really.

THINGS THAT MATTER

-- Getting to sleep before 10pm, this makes me Superwoman.

-- Making training dates with others, playing with your friends and family, being active together, and laughing. Laughing should be it's own thing. Here...

-- Laughing. It matters, big time.

-- Eating a balanced diet every day, and developing healthy habits. Being the kind of person that enjoys clean eating, this matters.

-- Organizing your training fuel and keeping it in a central location and fully stocked.

-- Not eating late in the day. This is Oh-So-Hard for me, but it matters. It really matters.

-- PMA ...positive mental attitude

-- Taking personal responsibility for what happens in your life. You always have a choice including your participation in this "sport".

-- Having organic veggies delivered to the doorstep every week

-- Developing the habit to plug in your Garmin the minute you get done training, it's worth the pain to develop the habit. I had next to no "dead Garmin" days in comparison to years past. Make a training electronics basket, tape a power strip to the bottom of it, and plug your stuff in.

-- Reading, both for fun, and for sport depending on your mood. Read for sport when training hours are low and you need to stay motivated towards goals. Read fiction for pleasure when training loads are high. 50 Shades of Grey can give you a lot to think about during a 30 hour training week.

-- Eating when hungry (Troy made me add this)

-- Drinking when thirsty

-- De-triathloning at least once a week, giving yourself time to think and discuss other things with people who don't do triathlon

-- Planning your day the night before, packing for training, and making food for the following day

-- Finding solutions that fit you (Troy made me add this one too. I think it's because he doesn't want me telling him what to do all the time when it comes to swim bike run)

-- The cleaning lady

-- A good bike fit

-- Listening to your Heart Rate Monitor, it very much matters, especially when you are out of shape!

-- Your friends, they matter, big time, listen to them and be there for them when they need you

THINGS THAT DON'T MATTER

---Restwise...doesn't seem to tell me much more than I know already, but does require me to develop a routine with filling it out which bugs me often. It also satisfies my anal retentive nature, but in all truth, it doesn't matter, know thyself (as CV used to say)

---Zeo...although fun to wear and makes me go to sleep faster, doesn't ultimately better my performance.

-- Self portraits taken on the bike with your phone...does this even need elaboration?

-- Counting calories

-- Excuses

-- Keeping track of Weekly Training Totals

-- Weighing every day

-- Drinking when you aren't thirsty

-- Filling in Training Peaks if your coach doesn't use Training Peaks... really doesn't matter. However, do upload your Garmin so you don't have to mess with "Delete Active History - Active Memory Full"

-- Foam Rolling (okay...it's a personal list)

-- The iPod, wear it if you want, don't wear it if you don't want, it doesn't matter

-- Cooking...not necessary, scrounging in a healthy way is just fine

-- Folding and putting away laundry

-- Looking up the results of your competitors before or after races

-- Make up (duh)

-- Looking cute on the podium, despite what recent Lava articles stress...see above

-- Responding to comments on your own blog...time suck! Or Facebook several times a day...time suck! or being permanently on Twitter...time suck!

-- The size of your Oakley collection...sad, I know.

--Being on time... doesn't matter as much as the weight I give it. I'm punctual to a fault and spend lots of time stressing out about being late, when most the time...doesn't matter.

-- What kind of car you drive...as long as it fits your bike.

-- What kind of bike you ride...as long as it fits you. Just kidding, you should ride a QR.

Next year I plan to go more in the direction of the top list, and less in the direction of the bottom list. More focus on emotional balance and health, less on data and being anal. More laughing, less lying in bed not wanting to get out. More good clean healthy food, less making myself feel bad about food choices. More listening to my body and trying to learn more about myself, less reliance on training gadgets. More fun!

It's all a choice!!