Aristotle said:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
I've been on the elusive search for a magic number. What number? The number of times you need to repeat a behavior before it becomes ingrained into you... before it becomes a habit.
Experts in physical fitness talk about how good habits don't really form for at least three months. I find that number a little high, and a lot disheartening. I don't think I have the will to keep up that kind of devotion without habit kicking in for a quarter of a year.
Back when I was in the fourth grade and studying for the spelling bee (yes, studying... please don't make me talk about that dark time in my life), I remember hearing that if you wrote a word 60 times, you would have the spelling memorized. So, maybe doing something 60 times is the key.
A lot of people hold to the one month/30 day rule - if you do something for 30 days, it becomes a habit. This has been picked up by a lot of self-help books, that promise 30 days to this and 30 days to that. Frankly, that by itself causes me to doubt that number.
There is a reasonably well known idea that that it takes the 21 days for the human mind to adjust to a major life change. Some have adapted that idea to implement life changes, performing behaviors for 21 consecutive days, and finding that after that period of time, it is actually more difficult to not do the behavior than to do the behavior.
I'm kinda hoping that the 21 day thing is correct. Actually, if we are talking about real hope, I'm hoping that habit kicks in after three days and the whole thing just becomes second nature to me.
Of course, I know that isn't likely.
My biggest hindrance will be that I'll only be heading to the pool Monday through Friday each week, which means that the 21 days will not be consecutive, so I can probably factor in a longer adjustment period than I'd hope for.
But, in the immortal words of Mary Poppins (who, I know, did not originate the quote, but I'm too lazy to seek the source), "Well begun is half done."
Here's to a good start, eh?
Type at you later.
(Quick update - First day of swimming is in. It was good. I'm tired, I'm sure to be sore, but I feel good about it. I may have to start out with three days a week instead of the five I had intended, and work up to five, but I won't know that for sure until tomorrow. That's when I'll know if I can move. Yep, wish I was joking... but I'm not. Still, feels like a good start so far!)
(Another request - The Scarlet Spider.)
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