🐾 The Doodle Method
paws, purpose, perspective
Every morning (actually it’s each) my golden doodle Charming and I walk together. As we amble the same route as if it’s GHD, I'm checking a box on my to-do list while he's happily decoding scents, sounds, and signals invisible to me.
Same streets; different universes.
It wasn't until I stumbled upon the concept of umwelt, the unique sensory world each species inhabits, I realized Charming hasn't missed a day of his routine in years not because of discipline, but because he's genuinely engaged with what matters to him (and he needs to poop but let’s go with some willing suspension of disbelief).
🐾 The world through doodle eyes
We humans are visual creatures and because of that we miss 90% of the world Charming experiences. While I see ‘just a bush,’ he's experiencing a complex social network: who passed by, when they came, their health, mood, and status all written in scent molecules sharing stories I'll never comprehend.
The everyday corner where he stops, nose twitching with intensity? It's his Facebook, Threads, and community bulletin board rolled into a singular sensory explosion.
Each morning, regardless of mood, he investigates these scent-stories with enthusiasm. No productivity app required. No motivation hacks needed. Just natural consistency born from genuine connection.
The Sniff Test: Look at what you've dismissed as mundane in your life. When we discover the value in daily actions consistency stops being something we force and becomes something we can't help but do.
🐾 Consistency Through Understanding
Initially, I viewed our walks as a responsibility to check off before my ‘real day’ began. Tuning into Charming's umwelt, however, shifted how I approach this time. His consistency in finding daily meaning inspired my own.
Now I understand these walks provide:
Essential exercise
Mental stimulation
Critical social connection
His need for these elements doesn't waver and neither should our commitment to our own essential practices.
The Leash Lesson: When I stopped urging Charming along and started understanding *why* these walks matter our routine solidified. Habits stick when they're tethered to purpose, not merely discipline. (←read this again)
Consistency flourishes when we are pulled forward by meaning rather than pushed by obligation.
When we connect with the purpose behind our habits, consistency stops feeling like work.
Journey vs Destination
Charming teaches us consistency comes from finding value in the process. His persistent, day-after-day engagement with familiar territory shows us consistency isn't about the destination but the journey itself.
The Tail-Wagging Truth: Charming doesn't walk to reach a destination he walks for the joy of exploration. When we wag our tails for the process (to beat a metaphor to death) rather than only the outcome, showing up daily becomes second nature. This shifts consistency from chore into anticipated pleasure that sustains itself.
Honoring Multiple Needs
Understanding Charming's perspective helped me create practices that serve us both. We now have:
Business walks (efficient exercise)
Sniff walks (exploration opportunities)
This balanced approach makes our ambulation more enjoyable while maintaining needed consistency. The rhythm of these two distinct but complementary practices creates a framework for sustainable, long-term consistency.
A balanced dog is a happy dog and the same goes for us humans. This variety-within-structure approach prevents the burnout that derails consistency. Structure is FREEDOM.
🐾 The Ultimate Doodle-Lesson
Success isn't about forcing rigid routines, it's about understanding why our actions matter.
Charming doesn't need willpower for his walks, he's naturally consistent because he connects with the experience. True consistency happens (for me, for you, for my clients and apparently for my doodle) when we discover value in the showing up.
The best lesson from Charming is surprisingly simple: align practices with what matters, balance structure with exploration, and stay curious even about familiar routines.
Because really.
Charming didn't need productivity books for his rock-solid routine, he just follows what naturally engages him. And somehow he cracked the code while we humans are still writing instruction manuals.
I've recently been thinking about my consistent practices, which are not physical but which are practical and necessary (for me). And what I want to do is build on those successes (two years of monitoring my BP, per my doctor's strong suggestion; five months of sticking to a budget, including recording every expense on a spreadsheet, and six months of not buying anything from Amazon) to create writing and wellness habits/practices. I want to be much healthier – physically, yes, but emotionally, too – on my 75th birthday than I was yesterday, on my 74th. Your words are a good reinforcement. Thank you.