How Many Days to Form a Habit?
photo courtesy of Retro Today, Flickr

Forming a new habit or breaking an existing habit can be one of the most difficult things you attempt to do. Knowing how many days to form a habit can help you get over the hump and keep you moving foreword in developing a new habit. I know personally that forming a new habit gets harder and harder the older I get and you will probably find that to be true for yourself.

Research says that it takes 21 to 30 days to form a new habit. I guess they know what they’re talking about, but it sure seems that forming a new habit takes me a whole lot longer! Or maybe it just seems like a longer time because it’s so hard to stick to the task at times.

We develop habits very early in life. Some of them are good and some of them are bad. If we are trying to get rid of bad habits, well hooray for us! I find that an explanation of habits helps me to understand why sometimes it is so hard to break habits.

When we create habits in our lives a path is worn into our minds. Think of it this way; a habit is a road that has been traveled down many, many times. So when you try to change a habit you are changing the direction of the road in your mind. Sometimes your mind will fight you because it doesn’t know what to do.

Stick with me here because understanding this will help you to understand why you must consistently do something the same way over a period of time to change a habit.

As you begin to change a habit you may ask yourself, “How many days to change a habit!!??” It’s tough because your mind will literally fight you because it doesn’t know which way to go. However the good news is that as you consistently repeat the new action, you are creating a new path or road in your mind.  After consistently doing these things for 21 to 30 days you have built a new road in your mind. Now the trick here is to remember that the new road is not as deeply worn as the old road so you may occasionally slip back into the old road but that’s okay just pick yourself up and go to the new road.

I want to encourage you that when you are trying to form a new habit or replace an existing habit you will be successful. Many times people give up because it’s so challenging and they feel like they are not getting anywhere with trying to form a new habit. Just remember it does take time to build a new road in your mind.

Let’s take for an example that you want to learn to floss your teeth every day. This may sound silly however if you are not raised as a child to floss your teeth everyday you might find it very difficult to remember to do it. My suggestion to you is to tape a note on your bathroom mirror to remind you to floss. Do this for 21 to 30 days and before you know it you will not even have to think about flossing, you’ll be doing it automatically.

Of course there are more extreme habits that need to be addressed such as smoking and other addictions.  My advice to you is to find someone to help you if you have an addiction that you are trying to break.  An addiction is a lot more serious than flossing teeth, therefore you will need someone who can talk you through the rough times and keep you on track until you are able to successfully break the addiction habit.

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