“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit”.
– Aristotle
Scientists have suggested that, with a little willpower, it takes roughly 21 days for a person to form a new habit. As with mastering anything new, the act of starting and getting beyond the preliminary stage where everything feels awkward is 80% of the battle.
This is precisely why it’s important to make small, positive changes every day over the course of at least a 21 day period.
It’s like the old saying: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” The same philosophy holds true for making changes in your life.
Trying to bite off more than you can chew will only make you choke. But taking smaller, manageable bites, one at a time – eating a little healthier, exercising a little, creating some simple productive habits, for example – is an amazing way to make positive changes and get excited about life.
And when you start small like this, you won’t need a lot of motivation either.
The simple act of getting started and doing something will give you the momentum you need, and soon you’ll find yourself in a positive spiral of changes – one building on the other.
Here is a small challenge for you to practice over the next 21 days. The idea is to make small daily changes that will turn into positive habits going forward.
Ok, here you go…..
Use words that encourage happiness. – Typically, when I ask someone “How are you? they reply, “I’m fine‚” or “I’m okay.” At one ABC Meeting last month a new member replied, “Oh, I am fabulous!” It made me smile, so I asked him what was making him feel so fabulous and he said, “I’m healthy, my family is healthy, and we live in a free country. So I don’t have any reason not to be happy.” The difference was simply his attitude and his choice of words. He wasn’t necessarily any better off than anyone else, but he seemed twenty times happier. Spend the next 21 days using words that encourage a smile.