When I coached high school basketball, one of the concepts I taught was muscle memory. In changing fundamental mechanics – like shooting a basketball – it takes 21 consecutive days to create “muscle memory.” If you stop the consecutive and consistent training when trying to change mechanics, you will lose all you gained and will have to re-start the process. Muscle memory is a crucial concept in changing mechanics in sports.
The concept is the same in your business and in your personal life.
What changes do you want to make in your business? Ask for more referrals? Improve communication skills for leaders? Grow your skills or “smarts” in your industry? Regardless of whether you want personal improvement or that of your employees, implementing long-term improvement while optimizing your investment of time and money requires daily discipline. Just like muscle memory of 21 days is necessary to change basketball shooting skills, daily discipline around change is also a requirement for changed business practices.
While we are talking about change implementation, the concept applies to our personal lives. Eating healthier, increasing hours of sleep, exercising more, and advancing skills (e.g. learning a new language) might be on your list. No matter what you want to do better, if you want to create a better life it takes more than simply identification. It requires muscle memory.
Time to flex those muscles…
Quote of the Day:
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt
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The key to personal and professional improvement is accountability. My mentoring and coaching program has availability. Contact me at [email protected] or (360) 271-1592 to apply.
