Habit Forming
Do you brush your teeth once and decide well I did it, that’s my one for the lifetime? No, you brush in the morning and the night and even in mid day if you can. Why? For the health of your mouth, the cleanliness of your smile, and because it’s a habit you formed.
Now let’s say you want to start writing but you don’t think you’re good, or you know how. But instead of letting the inadequacy eat you alive you instead face the facts, no one is great without practicing. You don’t allow the not knowing how or being terrible at something make you stop. That’s utter crap, and if you need to be great at something right away then I’m sorry to burst your bubble it isn’t going to happen. Sure you may have a proclivity for the thing you are trying to do but to be great means practice and by practicing daily you begin to form a habit.
When forming habits it takes 30 days at the very minimum. I believe it’s a bit longer from personal expereince. When I started this blog, all starry eyed and hung ho about it, I lost momentum after a week and a half. I kept at it regardless but I didn’t know how to continue writing or what to even write about. I dreaded it because I didn’t know what I would write about the next day. Even after 30 days I was still finding a groove, it wasn’t until probably a month ago that it has become a habit for me to write every night after my day. There are times still I will miss a day here or there but it’s not often. But think about that, last month was 6 months for me. It took me 6 months to find a groove where I incorporated writing in my daily habits.
Whether it be the resistance, the perfectionism, the not knowing what to do, or write, or just laziness, I fought for those 6 months to keep practicing. Regardless if it was a good entry, I posted it anyways. So that saying about 30 days, take it with a grain of salt because sure your mind can do it with the rewiring but will it actually stick and become part of your routine? Will it be something you continue after? If you need more time for it to be a part of your daily rituals or habits then allow space for that. Don’t think that bam 30 days!! I am totally in now and gonna do this thing everyday forever now. It takes recommitment, it takes pushing through the muddy water and getting to the other side of the river when you have weights and chains around your legs. Habits are choses you make, and if you decide even for a second, nahh I need a day off, will that day off become two? Three? A week? Will you chose to go back at it even after that day off? The choice is yours, do you want to chose the easy way? Or are you willing to go the distance for yourself?
Today was a 8.