"It takes 21 days to change a habit," says Maxwell Maltz (which we find to be true in our presentation skills training - give or take a week or so.)
But don't tell that to Brainman - he wills his habits.
There is a fascinating story about habits in todays New York Times on Daniel Tammet, one of only 100 autistic savants in the world, who they refer to as Brainman:
"He has willed himself to learn what to do. Offer a visitor a drink; look her in the eye; don’t stand in someone else’s space. These are all conscious decisions. Recently, some friends warned him that in his eagerness to make eye contact, he tended to stare too intently. “It’s like being on a tightrope,” he said. “If you try too hard, you’ll come off. But you have to try.”
Daniel Tammet has to work on his habits. For us as leaders and communicators, can we do any less.
And Daniel is unusual as an autistic person, since he has also written a book on his experience, "Born On A Blue Day." which is a best seller (38 on Amazon list.)
