A skill is something you do consciously. A habit is something you do without thinking about it. Most of the people who manage Type 1 well aren't constantly working at it. They've turned the skills into habits.
Today's idea
Habit formation is the goal of every behavior change program ever designed. The reason this one is built around 21 days of small daily moves isn't arbitrary — it's because that's roughly the amount of repetition required for an action to start feeling like the default, not the exception.
You're 19 days in. Some things you did consciously on Day 8 are probably no longer conscious. Reading the arrow first. Noticing the trend before the number. Remembering that fat shows up later. Recognizing when stress is in play.
The Pro Tip series describes this transition in operational terms:
What looks like vigilance from the outside is mostly automatic from the inside. The work of management, over time, costs less and less attention — not because you're trying less, but because what used to require thought now happens by default.
From Pro Tip 1007
That's the goal. Not to be hyper-aware. To make the awareness so cheap that it costs you almost nothing to maintain.
Things that used to be effortful are becoming automatic. That's what fluency feels like.
Today, notice one thing you do automatically now that you used to have to think about. Even something small. Just see that it's become a habit without your noticing.
Small Sip #1449 — S.W.A.G.
What did I do today without thinking about it, that three weeks ago would have required thought?