The Number 21

Working on the magical 21 – do something 21 times and it becomes a habit. True or not, it was a good number for me to get my regular morning treadmill “in” as it was a goal which seemed reachable for me and I could cling to it when my brain was trying to tell me that staying longer in bed would just be so much more rewarding. I think that’s the reason a “100-day diet” fail, that’s a LONG way to go!

So I wiped down my whiteboard and made my list of things: 3 times a week study some code; 6 times a week the morning treadmill and so on. Every day I go over the list and mark with an X what I did on the list until I have 21 of them on each line. It is now not about 3 weeks nor 21, the challenge is sticking to the single points 21 times in a row, so the things which are on the daily list will reach the 21 goal within 3 weeks, but other things, such as painting will take 7 weeks… as long as I keep on sticking to it

Having A LOT of weddings and birthdays and house visits planned for this July it will be a real huge challenge. The biggest though being the getting side-tracked, just as this evening. While studying some Ajax it pulled me into related but different subjects and there went my schedule for the night. Not only did I not get as far in my studies as planned, I was also tempted to drop my daily post (yes, another point on my list of 21).

Phew, did it all the same and won’t miss a red check-mark for this item today.