Daily Inspiration: “It takes 21 days to form a habit and just 66 to make it automatic. …we’ve been virtual for 300+ days”

“It takes 21 days to form a habit and just 66 to make it automatic. We’ve been in this virtual space for 300+ days. I suspect it’s sticking with us for quite some time!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

I used the “automatic habit” quote back in November when I spoke virtually at a major global retail conference, outlining that many of the changes we’ve seen with e-commerce and virtual shopping are likely to stay with us post-pandemic. We know that retail has been changed forever.

Working from home? There is no shortage of blogs predicting the future of the workforce and when people might return to work, but a simple fact is this: many people like many aspects of it. The lifestyle is habit forming!

Tele-medicine and visiting your doctor online? That will be a huge part of the healthcare system going forward – we have simply discovered that for many routine medical visits, it’s’ wonderfully efficient!

So too with conferences and events – yes, the idea of a big trade-show floor full of booths vis-a-vis the massive Consumer Electronics Show might one day come back. But the idea of 200 people from around the world flying to a location for a corporate get-together to discuss a new strategy? Maybe not so much!

A simple reality is this: we are entering the new ‘hybrid’ era of our future. 2020 has led to a massive change in behavior and habits – and there no going back to where we were. Going forward, we’ll find ourselves in many new weird, strange yet fascinating new forms of interaction that combine a virtual portion with an in-person component. Some of us will be virtual; others will be face-to-face.

Hybrid. It’s your new future, and you’ve already become used to it!

Because habits formed are hard to break!