Hello!
Seiiti Arata.
Have you ever heard that it takes twenty-one days to create a habit?
I'm sorry to say that this information has no scientific basis.
Forming habits can certainly change your life.
That's true.
Habits allow us to do things on autopilot.
By forming the right habits, you can transform your body, learn a language, raise money,
or achieve any other goal that requires consistency.
But this also means that bad habits can get in your way.
Eating ultra-processed foods, staying on social media instead of studying, spending more than
you earn... these are examples of harmful behaviors when they become repetitive.
It is important, then, that you form habits intelligently.
Habits that get you closer to becoming the person you want to be.
Now, do you know how long it takes to create a habit?
The story of creating a habit in 21 days is nothing more than a myth, without scientific
proof.
Some time ago, a doctor named Maxwell Maltz wrote that amputees take about twenty-one
days to get used to having their limbs amputated [source: https://arata.se/source-aq1ch].
This information went viral and ended up being generalized to say that it takes twenty-one
days to create a habit.
Hence the craze you see on the internet, with challenges of twenty-one days for this and
thirty days for that.
As if creating habits were an exact science.
Twenty-one has become a magic number.
But this deadline is nothing more than a myth without scientific proof.
Let's see what the science says.
In 2009, a survey [source: https://arata.se/source-pc6r] recruited ninety-six participants to do the
same daily activity, in the same context, for twelve weeks.
For example, one participant chose to exercise daily right after breakfast.
Another chose to run fifteen minutes before dinner.
The purpose of the research was to find out how long it takes for people to create a habit.
We could say that, on average, participants took sixty-six days.
But this average is a useless number, since the time varied drastically from case to case.
A simple habit, like drinking a glass of water, can take eighteen days.
Something more difficult, like going to the gym for an hour, can take more than two hundred
days.
When asking how long it takes to form a habit, no one wants to hear the answer: creating
habits can take forever.
A habit is only formed when you practice the habit.
Not a day more, not a day less.
When people research how long it takes to create a habit, they are looking for a shortcut.
It's as if they have this thought process: I'm going to push myself to do exercise for
twenty-one days.
After twenty-one days, this will become so automatic that my life will be easy, and I
won't have to try anymore.
In practice, this is not what happens.
You force yourself to do that action for twenty-one days, thirty days, or even sixty-six days…
and then you have to keep pushing.
A habit only lasts as long as you practice the habit.
It seems obvious, but many people forget about that.
It doesn't matter if you've exercised the last three hundred and sixty-five days.
If you stop today and don't exercise anymore, you'll break the habit.
If you have to keep repeating the habit, does it matter how long it takes to create that
habit?
Setting a deadline only serves to create an unrealistic expectation.
This can even play against your goals.
If you miss a day, you could end up frustrated and give up.
Don't judge yourself for not mastering a new habit in a few weeks.
Instead of looking for magic numbers, think about the long-term.
Habits are a process, not an event.
Make a commitment to yourself to form smart habits that help you achieve your goals.
Whether it takes twenty-one days or two hundred.
It doesn't matter.
Habit is an ongoing attitude that will transform you into the person you want to be.
The good news about the time it takes to form a habit...it gets easier every day.
Try to remember the first time you did something.
The first time you rode a bike or used an app.
You were learning.
The first time that you attempt something, everything is more difficult.
The second time, it gets a little easier.
Third, even easier.
Until, one day, there is no more difficulty in doing that activity.
With habits, something similar happens.
There is no magic number of days to turn a difficult habit into an easy one.
Evolution can be slow when comparing one day to the next.
But in the long run, there is a big difference.
The difficulty of practicing the habit on the first day will be much greater, compared
to the difficulty one hundred days later.
The difficulty drops when you no longer have as much resistance to practice the habit.
For example, at first you forced yourself to go to the gym.
Now, it's a natural part of your routine.
This does not mean that the habit is formed forever.
If you stop going for a while, you will form a habit of not going to the gym.
Your brain will always prefer the path of least resistance.
Every time you make or stop making a habit, you are creating a neural pathway in your
brain.
The more paved this path is, the more likely you are to walk that path.
Your habits can help you or hinder you.
Actually practicing the habit is much more important than simply thinking about how long
it would take to create it.
The story that it takes twenty-one days to form a habit is a myth.
It can take much longer than that.
The truth is, time doesn't matter.
Ultimately, you're going to have to keep practicing the habit, so it doesn't go away.
Your focus should be on practicing the habit today.
Forget the future.
Practice the habit daily, and you will be well on your way to forming the habit.
Of course, it's not that simple.
To help you, I prepared the summary of a book on how to create and change habits.
You can download the summary right now at https://arata.se/ebookhabits