water, ducks and pavlovian response

I've come to realize that empty resolutions are easy to make and thus easy to break. Without a plan of attack they aren't much more substantial than dreams. Don't get me wrong. Dreams are crucial. They're what a happy life is made of in my opinion. However, if you don't think of a means in which to reach said goal, the prospect of reaching the prize seems less and less attainable over time.

Frustrating.

Now I'm not talking HUGE resolutions here. Sometimes it's most inspiring to start small. Give yourself that little taste of success. A boost if you will. What I'm trying to get at is...

I suck at drinking water. Seriously, I think my body has gotten proficient at running on a constant state of dehydration.

And it's not like I drink a bunch of sugary alternatives either! Nope. Nada. 8 ounces, 8 times a day sounds impossible to me most days. You'd think that with all of the benefits that water brings I'd learn. I mean, I've "tried" to be better before, but I can seriously have 3 containers of liquid sitting on my desk at all times giving me all of the options in the world and I will still somehow manage to ignore them unless thirst suddenly strikes.

But this ends now for I have a plan and it's working marvelously so far.

This is how it works.

I have set 8 alarms on my ever-faithful iPhone. Each one goes off on the hour from 10am to 5pm during the work day. I have set the alarm sound to an absolutely annoying duck quack and as soon as I hear the first tone, I know it's time to chug 8 ounces of water.

I hear you laughing. But my ridiculousness is also my gain! It TOTALLY works for me.

To measure my progress, I drink out of my clearly marked Nalgene bottle, which is 32oz. I'm drinking 2 Nalgenes a day people. This is serious.

I have also told my co-workers about said plan so that I am held accountable. If you know me, you know I don't like failure so this is a key component. ;)

So far so good. Hopefully I reep the benefits of hydration soon. My dry skin will be ever so grateful.

And if Pavlov is right, I might need to steer clear from ducks in the future... that or suffer from sudden-onset-thirst.