Hey there, my fellow garden lover and homesteader. Welcome to a little journey through the hidden wisdom of the garden. Let’s dig in together and see how we can grow not just our crops, but our habits too for a more personal productive and meaningful life.

Just like a lush, well tended garden needs care and regular attention to bloom, our personal habits need attention, patience, and consistency. That’s why we’re gonna start building a small greenhouse for our behaviors, a cozy little space where good routines can take root and slowly become a natural part of everyday life.
Today, we’re gonna roll up our sleeves and dive deep into the rich soil of personal growth, discovering four life changing habits inspired by James Clear’s Atomic Habits. To make it easier to take it all in, this journey will be broken into four bite sized portions over the week. All seasoned with my own homestead twist.

In part 2, you’ll learn how to stack your habits and build a green little ritual that actually sticks.
In part 3, we’ll find fresh ways to tap into motivation right here on the homestead—even on the days when your energy’s running on empty.
And in part 4, you’ll meet the two‑minute rule. A clever little trick that makes it as easy to grow good habits as it is to plant a row of radishes in the spring sunshine.

So grab your garden gloves and come along on this big, beautiful adventure. It’s time to give your habits a little extra love and see what starts to sprout when you mix personal growth with the quiet rhythm of homesteading life.

Atomic Habits is like a treasure chest full of insights about how tiny, consistent actions can shape our whole lives. Here, you won’t just learn how habits work. You’ll also learn how to spot your goals, sharpen your focus, and build real momentum. Step by step, just like tending a seed until it finally pops through the soil. With small steps, awareness, and reflection, you can grow a daily life where change actually sticks.

I’ll be honest with you, I tried reading this book twice last year, but life kept getting in the way every time. Listening to it on Nextory made all the difference, so I’m dropping that link here for you too. And hey, don’t sleep on Audible and Podplay either – I’ve found some real gems there.

The four habits I’m sharing over this week have made a real dent in my own days. I’ve gotten more focused and more productive, and I truly believe they can do the same for you.

Let’s start with the first and maybe most basic one, tracking and scoring your habits. Think of it like planting seeds and then watching how they grow. At the beginning of the week, write down all the tasks and habits you want to grow. I usually do this on Sunday evening. It can be anything from keeping the kitchen tidy to spending an hour a day reading or reflecting (kind of like weeding your mind).

Each task becomes a little seed that gets to sprout during the week. When the week is over, you harvest your progress. Count how many of your planned actions you actually followed through on, and divide that by the total number. A perfect harvest is the dream – sure, but 80% is often plenty and still very realistic.

This method changed the way I think about goals. Instead of daydreaming about a showy, prize winning garden I focus on the everyday work. The watering, the fertilizing, the weeding. That’s where the real harvest is made, both in the soil and in life.

After Miss X decided to leave Alhaga, I was left standing there with all the tasks. And honestly, it got overwhelming fast. The more that popped up, the less productive I became, until I barely knew which end to grab in that growing mess of problems.

Things that should be done, things that had to be done. I needed a change if I was gonna get this ship back on course. And out of nowhere one day, a friend tossed me a little tip: “Why don’t ya read Atomic Habits?”

I’ll give you another real life example from my own “digital garden.” For a while, my goal has been to launch Alhaga’s new YouTube channel. Something that honestly fell through the cracks when every task suddenly landed on my plate with no one else to delegate to. A fun target would be 1,000 YouTube subscribers in the first year, which sounds a bit like dreaming of a blooming rose garden. But just like roses don’t bloom on their own, a YouTube channel doesn’t grow without care.

I can talk about it all day till I’m blue in the face, but what good does that do me in the end? If I just say, “I want 1,000 subscribers,” but never upload videos, how’s that helping?

Okay, so what can I actually do to make that goal more likely? I can create and upload X number of videos per month. I can check my analytics to see which videos slowly bring in new viewers. I can sharpen my SEO skills. I could even work on better thumbnails.

Those small, daily actions are what, over time, might just lead to a blooming platform.

Habits are the building blocks of our lives, shaping our actions and defining our paths. By understanding and harnessing the power of habits, we can create a foundation for meaningful change. Consistent, small actions lead to big results, transforming our daily routines into a powerful force for personal growth and achievement.

When your “why” and “how” are squared away, your “what” will fall right into place.

Start your journey towards lasting change by tracking your habits and sharing your progress with our supportive community. Together, we can cultivate a lifestyle where positive habits flourish. Let’s nurture growth, one step at a time.

Dear friend, I’m asking you to start this week by planting the seeds of your own good habits. Write down your goals, track your progress, and remember that every little action is like a seed that, with time and care, will grow into something beautiful and rewarding. And don’t forget to stick around till the end – because I’ve got a fun new tip to share, a productivity hack that’s really helped my projects start blooming.

Let’s grow not just our food, but our best selves too. Good luck with your personal gardening. Tomorrow, the blog series inspired by Atomic Habits continues, with my own little twist, and you’ll get cozy with the idea of habit stacking.

From your passionate homesteader and garden buddy, Fredrik

P.s. What’s one habit you’re trying to grow right now? Drop it in the comments so we can cheer each other on.