#50DaysOfShades Day 21 of 50 – Days to form a habit.

Some say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so that’s it now I must be in the habit of taking a photo and posting every day.

Eer no. (and the 21 days is a myth2 anyway, albeit a positive one that has probably helped people at least get started.)

I’m not even sure I can call taking/posting the photo a habit.

A habit can be defined1 as: “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up”. To me there is also an element of a habit being unconscious, doing without thinking, getting to a point where it’s happening before you even notice it. (think biting nails, how someone folds a crisp packet, or what you do with receipts) Which more closely adheres to this definition2/3 “actions that are triggered automatically in response to contextual cues that have been associated with their performance”.

50DaysOfShades is far more of an exercise, maybe a practice (more on my definition of a practice another day) but definitely process.

Firstly I could give it up in a heartbeat, some days (not necessarily the ones with only a photo) I could really not do it.

Secondly, it takes thought. Working out what photo/where, what to say (if anything) it is far from an unconscious act. (To the point where I even have a checklist of what I do, how/where I post, what subtle differences there are between platforms, how to upload to my website etc). So if far from unconscious and triggered automatically.

It is however a practice (such as yoga or meditation).

It is something I am giving (for better or worse) time, energy and focus. And I have given it these since day 1.

So rather than pondering (or creating) a new habit. My suggestion is to create a new practice for this can be a reality from day one, not day 21, 28, 30 or in reality2/4 anything from 8 – 254 (or not at all).