Ηabits: How long does it take to make or break them?

Most likely, you have one or two annoying habits that you want to break.

How easy is it going to be really?

How easy is it going to be to adopt the right habit?

Jeremy Dean author of the book Making Habits, Breaking Habits asked the question ‘How long does it take to make or break a habit?’.

The easy answer was 21 days!

This very popular 21-day rule goes back to the 1960s psychology book Psycho-Cybernetics. According to this book, the number of days is the same, whether starting to exercise or starting a diet. Unsurprisingly, this is not validated by data today.

Jeremy Dean explores the science behind the habits, through empirical data on habit formation. He cites research and provides a more detailed answer to the question.

How long does it really take to form a new habit?

At University College London, researchers performed a study where 96 participants were asked to choose a daily behavior they wanted to make habitual. Everyone chose something they had not done before, which they wanted to start doing daily. According to the study published in The European Journal of Social Psychology, it took on average 66 days to form the chosen habit, which was something like eating fruit at lunch or running for 15 minutes every day. In the end, the actual number of days it took to form the habit ranged from 18 to 254.  

For 84 days, participants went on a website and reported whether they had done what they had chosen, and how automated they felt their behavior was. This notion of action without thought – known scientifically as automation – seems to be at the heart of forming habits.

Automation is at the heart of forming habits

Automation also helps to illuminate the essence of this research: how long it took for a behavior to become a habit. On average, all participants who provided enough data took 66 days to develop a habit. However, there were significant differences in how long it took to form a habit, depending on what everyone was aiming for.

How easy is it to adopt a welcomed habit?

Those who wanted to drink more water after breakfast were able to automate their behavior after about 20 days, while those who wanted to eat a fruit took at least twice as long make this a habit. Researchers were able to determine that in some cases, it may take up to 254 days to establish a habitual behavior!

The 21-days rule might apply if your goal is to drink more water during the day, but not if you want to do 50 push-ups before breakfast. The more difficult and painful it is, the more likely it is that it will take longer to automate.

If we want to be honest and set our expectations right, the truth is that it will probably take us two to eight months to build a new behavior in our lives. Not twenty-one days.

It is a fascinating fact, however, that even if an opportunity to implement the new behavior is missed, this does not affect the habit-forming process.

It does not matter if you deviate from the habit-forming process 

We do not need to punish ourselves if we try to do something for a few weeks and it does not become a habit. It takes more time! There is no need to be judgmental towards ourselves if we cannot form a habit in twenty-one days, or however long we think it should take. 

Just don’t give up!

Creating better habits is not an all-or-nothing process

You also don’t need to worry about perfection. If you make a mistake once or twice that has no real impact on long-term habits. That is why we need to tackle failure the way scientists do, allowing ourselves to make mistakes and then developing strategies to get back on track quickly.

Don’t be afraid to set more extended time limits, and accept the fact that habits are a long-term process. Patterns define your life and should not be taken lightly. Moreover, slipping up is not cause for frustration. 

Focus on creating a new habit, not changing the old one

We often make the mistake of focusing on how to break the old habit. It is so much better to focus on the new behavior and the new way of doing things and leave the old patterns behind. Repeating and practicing the desired actions is a prerequisite for creating a habit successfully. 

Don’t forget to love yourself!

Our Fitness Camps can help you start and maintain healthy habits for your best life. Visit our website to learn more.

References

–       Making Habits, Breaking Habits, by Jeremy Dean, December 10, 2013, https://www.amazon.com/Making-Habits-Breaking-Things-Change/dp/0306822628

–       Mindful, Healthy Mind-Healthy Life, Living with, and Loving, Your Imperfect Life https://www.mindful.org/living-loving-imperfect-life/

–       Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz,1 Mar 1994, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psycho-Cybernetics-Maltz/dp/0671700758

–       DevelopGoodHabits.com, How to form a habit in 8 easy steps https://www.developgoodhabits.com/how-to-form-a-habit-in-8-easy-steps/

–   Psychology Today, Stop Expecting to Change Your Habit in 21 Days. How long does it really take to change a habit? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happiness-project/200910/stop-expecting-change-your-habit-in-21-days