When I was in my very early twenties, I put myself on a plan I called the 30 girl-30 day program. It’s not what you think, stick with me.
You see, I’ve always been extroverted, comfortable talking to women and hard to embarrass. But in spite of these characteristics, I wasn’t having much success getting women to go out with me. So, I put myself on a training program. For 30 straight days I had to talk to a girl, and record the results. The goal was to get a date, or a phone number. What I found was that the beginning days were tough, but gradually got easier, then by the 20th day, I was in a rhythm and wasn’t even thinking about it anymore. I’d gotten out of my own way and was just in the groove.
More recently, I switched my diet. I started eating Paleo in October which meant I had to give up bread, grains and all things gluten (among other things). Again, the first 20 days or so were tough, really tough. But after that I got into a groove and no longer even craved bread, or thought about eating outside of my new dietary guidelines.
I think that 21 days is all it takes to make a significant life change. I point this out because far too often we look at making a change in our lives as being a giant, dramatic decision. We focus on the “end” result years down the road. We don’t start eating right and exercising because being lean, healthy and cut from marble, is so far away. We don’t try to learn a new process because we’ve been doing this one for SO LONG. In short, we look too far out and neglect the step right in front of us.
21 days is 3 weeks. It’s 15 work days and 6 weekend days, depending on when you start. That’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. So think about something you want to accomplish and set aside 21 days to start it. If you aren’t in the groove by the 21st day, you’ll at least have an idea if it’s worth it to keep going.