Recently, I’ve been re-evaluating some of my habits. For a true view of my daily health habits, I got an Oura ring. I sit too much. I have been trading off planned afternoon exercise for work goals. I don’t sleep as much as I thought, or as well, which made me realize that I’ve compromised my wind-down routine. 

At lunch, I’m taking at least five minutes to walk, even if it’s just out of the building and to the end of the block. I’ve set a reminder on my phone to start my evening wind-down. These aren’t big changes, but I can already see tangible results in my data. 

Change starts with the simple step of observation. What’s happening? Is it positive, negative, neutral? Are you satisfied with the outcome?

One of my favorite books is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I recently added Atomic Habits by James Clear, which builds upon Duhigg’s work to define four rules for building successful routines.

Habits don’t usually start or stop all at once. Duhigg tells a story of falling into an unintended daily cookie habit that he only discovered when his wife suggested he visit the bathroom scale. Eight accidental pounds later, the professor decided to observe and experiment. 

Habits can sneak up on us. Our habitual behaviors trigger routines that we don't have to think about. Especially when we're overtaxed or tired, we're most at risk of falling back to an old or bad habit. It’s comforting. It’s easy. The outcome is predictable and known, if even it’s destructive.

The good news is, you don’t have to have a super force of will to change a habit. You just have to be open to recognizing that there might be an opportunity and need for a change. And that opportunity can start with something as simple as observing. I have been watching my sleep and daily stress metrics for a few weeks. A client just monitored employee work patterns for a month. Another tracked timing of payables versus receivables. 

Once you can see what’s happening, you can consider impactful changes. Small changes have large results over time. An adjustment you make now can be quite fruitful by Labor Day. 

We often use the start of a year to list what we want to start and stop doing. But why wait? June 26 is just as good as January 1. Review what’s working and what’s not. Or just pick something you’d like to be different in 30 or 60 days. Use your Q2 results to identify opportunities.

What’s something you’d like to change in your business? What can you observe today to improve your understanding?

July 1 regulatory changes

If you missed last week’s recap of July 1 federal, state, and local legal and regulatory changes, here’s last week’s newsletter. Scroll down to “Mid-year Legal Changes.” Make sure you’re up to date on the federal minimum salary and any minimum wage changes in your operating locations.June 13 AMA Replay

Media Kit 

Washington Post: AI is straining the US power grid. Amidst a nationwide heat wave, 8% of available US energy is being used to support AI computing. (Cryptocurrency is also a huge suck.) Until the space tech guys commercialize a Mr. Fusion home reactor, maybe think twice about requesting the fourth, fifth, and sixth mash-ups of Taylor and Travis’ babies. 

Reuters: if you’re a small business owner, you may have been recruited for a class action lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard over exorbitant processing fees. A settlement was on the table, but last week, it was rejected by a judge. Get ready to see lots of mind-bending financial data at trial. 

Bloomberg: big weight loss means big surgeries. Those losing more than 50 pounds on GLP-1s are filling plastic surgeon’s rosters to have excess skin removed. It’s called a panniculectomy and your insurance may pay for it. Consider this your mid-summer motivation to get your budget right for a 2024 corporate health plan.