Week 4, Nudge 4 = Fancy Fingernails, Carrie's Adding Color!

NUDGED: "Wear fun nail color for one week"

BACKSTORY: I found myself painting again this week, on my fingernails this time instead of canvas. The idea for this nudge came from the project founder's past nudge of "wear red lipstick every day". I challenged myself to wear a bright, fun color on my fingernails for a week, something I haven't done for a very long time. It would be visible to others and be a great reminder to me to get out of my comfort zone.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

I admit that my first instinct was to paint a subtle, soft color like a light (barely visible!) pink. Not bold enough! My other options included a bright blue, Vikings purple, or bright red. I chose red in honor of the red lipstick challenge referenced above, and painted them on Sunday to display the color for a full week.

RED!

I had to be careful at work all week after I discovered that they could leave light red marks on white paper. I also had to get used to them chipping and not looking "perfect" all week.

As it was on my mind, I noticed other people who wore fingernail polish too. More than I was expecting! While I thought my nails really stood out and anticipated comments, in actuality I received very few comments from people that noticed (three total).

LESSONS LEARNED:
  1. Don't hide myself or shy away from being bright and visible. No one notices anyway. :)
  2. Try new things. Looking at my hands reminded me of my commitment to this project and to get out of my comfort zone. 
  3. I realized I view "uncomfortable" things as "scary". Each nudge has felt scary to me at first and that is how it is defined in my head, but it's not accurate. Uncomfortable is okay and brings growth! 
  4. I liked the look and boldness of fingernail polish. It was an easy modification to my appearance. I see more color on my fingernails in the future!  
NEXT UP: My nudge for this coming week has been drawn: "rearrange my clothing drawers". This was an idea from a family member that I added to my list. The contents of my clothing drawers have been the same for a long time with little change, so it's time to get uncomfortable and move everything around! Will I be constantly searching for things? Will I find a better system?

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