Forget the 21 day rule for creating new habits. That’s one of the many products of flawed e-mail forwards that claim to cite good research. The downside with a “fact” of this nature is that it has led many to disappointment. Exercising for 21 days does not make it a habit.
The real research points to an average 66 days for the creation of a new habit. It goes up or down depending on the difficulty of the habit and my estimation for the difficult habit is 7 weeks or 84 days.
A couple of observations from the researchers –
– Missing a single day did not reduce the chance of forming a habit. (i.e. stop judging progress)
– A sub-group took much longer than the others to form their habits, perhaps suggesting some people are ‘habit-resistant’. (i.e. if your mind is closed, it might take longer than 84 days)
Let’s stop 4 week habit experiments (assuming you’re working on the habit 5 days/week) and start setting up 17 week experiments. Habits are only formed when we’re in it for the long run. Are we?
A Learning a Day 