You won’t notice a new habit for weeks. Then one day the old you feels like a stranger.

Habits form invisibly, which is why most people quit before the evidence arrives. For weeks nothing measurable happens and the whole thing feels like effort with no return. The shift, when it comes, is not gradual to experience: you catch yourself doing the new thing automatically, and the old behaviour suddenly looks like somebody else’s.

Since the early stretch gives you no feedback, make the habit small enough to survive a bad week. Keep a mark on a calendar so you can see the weeks you cannot feel. Decide now that you will not judge it before a month is up.