Hi, this is Monica Packer, and you're listening to About Progress, where we are about progress made practical.

Things are pretty nuts in the packer household, especially today, but lately in general. I mean, right now Brad is out of town and has been so for a few days. So I'm writing solo and it feels like each day is this full out sprint from the time that I wake up.

Luckily around 5.30 I have more to share on that later on this week in a messy middle episode but until I go to bed then around 10 it's made me so

Grateful for Brad you don't realize how much someone really influences the family culture and what they contribute

until they are not in the household. So big hats off to Brad. And as I've been

moving through this week I have been reminded that this is what it used to feel like all the time when Brad worked really long hours and had a really long commute.

And it kind of reminded me these moments I'd have where I was

triggered into reacting rather than responding to my children and in ways that did not

line up with both my values and my personality.

And my own inability to show up as myself

to those responsibilities, mainly the people in my life,

is what I actually started, a big shift in my life both internal but

eventually external that led to about progress starting and then eventually

this podcast starting. Now along the ride habits became an essential piece to this puzzle because I

figured out finally that even though I was getting to know myself better which

was originally what I was trying to work on, trying to figure out who was Monica, if I'm reacting this way, then who am I anyway?

And I got a lot of clarity on that.

I was making a lot of progress internally but I finally realized that my

exterior my my my my outside life my day-to-day life had to support that identity

without having habits that propped up that anyone else. This is what began another shift for me from a non-habit person to a habit

person and I can officially say like I am a habit person now and not because my life is so rigid and every moment of every day is about

systems and routines and habits. It's not about that. It's about my life demanding so much flexibility for me and now having a few stable

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