Wait 21 Days Before Giving Up A Good Thing

There will always be a certain level of discomfort in anything new you try. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong, or even wrong for you. Habits are created through sustained effort, practice and perseverance. Sustained effort keeps the momentum going. Practice will cast aside any uncomfortable feelings the new gives (starting a new business venture, a new exercise program, changing your diet, writing a book, etc.) give you. Perseverance will turn it into a habit. As self-evident as this may sound, you will only be uncomfortable until you become comfortable. Once the new activity becomes habit, you’ll start to see the difference it’s making in your life and you’ll never want to go back to the way your life was without it.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, creator of the “21 day habit” theory, states that it takes approximately twenty-one consecutive days of practice for a new habit, thought or routine to become ingrained into memory. If you want to create a new habit and make it stick, it will take about three weeks of practice before your brain will accept the new habit as the norm. Once the twenty-one days are up, it will be almost second nature to keep the momentum going. The whole point of developing a new habit is to keep up with it, and not give it up. The likelihood of its becoming a permanent part of your daily routine increases the longer you stick with it past the twenty-one day mark. And of course, the more you enjoy what you’re doing, the easier it will become and the better you will become at doing it.

Stopping and starting projects can rob you of accomplishing anything worthwhile. What’s the point of creating a new habit if you stop doing it after twenty-one days is up? (That is why I created the Gratitude and Goals Daily Journal, as part of my book, Gratitude and Goals.  The Gratitude and Goals Daily Journal is not just another thing to make your life more demanding. My intention when originally designing it for myself was to simplify your life, by prioritizing your day more efficiently. If you stick with it, it can and will help you forge good habits that last a lifetime.)

If you find yourself a bit off track or miss a day of whatever it is you are trying to do, don’t beat yourself up. Just dive back in without further delay. Even if you stop and start twenty times in twenty different ways, that’s okay. You just might need twenty-one times to get it right! In fact, some of the greatest inventions of our time owe their existence to persistence and perseverance. After five years and 5,127 prototypes, the Dyson G-Force bagless vacuum cleaner was created. It took Edison over 10,000 “failed” attempts, before he invented the light bulb. And the creator of the Head skis broke thousands of prototypes and was booed off the slopes before he made his millions.

Before deciding something isn’t for you, give it a try! When you’ve reached twenty-one consecutive days, look back at the results. How do you feel? What positive changes have you made? What have you learned about yourself from this experience? What goals have you achieved? Was it worth it? What’s next on your list to achieve?

What do you have to lose (except the chains that are keeping your dreams in bondage)?