If you ask Google how long it takes to make a habit, you’ll probably be told it takes 21 days. We’ve all heard it. But people have recently been digging into the “fact” and learned it isn’t true.
The belief that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit comes from a book published in 1960 by a plastic surgeon. Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s amputee patients got used to the change in 21 days. He argued that if a person could get used to missing a limb, anyone could make a life change in 21 days. But there is a huge difference between adjusting to life after a medical procedure and training yourself to wake up before your alarm or quit smoking.
Researchers at Univ. College London recently re-examined the question. They used 96 participants who wanted to form new healthy habits like eating fruit daily or running for 15 minutes a day. Every day, the participants were asked how automatic their habits felt and if the habit was “hard not to do” or if it had become something they could do without thinking. On average, it took 66 days for the habits to become mindless and automatic actions that were just part of people’s lives that they didn’t have to consider.
While the average was 66 days, there was variation. The shortest time it took someone to form a habit in the study was 18 days. The longest time it took was 254 days. Simple tasks like drinking an extra glass of water daily were easy to make a habit. Less comfortable habits, like 50 sit-ups before breakfast, took more time and effort. Researchers noted that missing a day didn’t lower the chance of forming a habit. They also saw that some people took much longer to form a habit than others. That suggests some people might be “habit-resistant.” The study participants were all aiming for easily achievable habits; harder things could take significantly longer to become habits.
Colin Camerer, a behavioral economist at the California Institute of Technology, has conducted research on habit formation. He said the 21-day theory appeals to people because it seems manageable and plausible. You wouldn’t believe it if you were told you could establish a routine in three days. On the other hand, it might seem too daunting to begin if you were told it would take months. But, in the end, it’s just about consistency. You put one foot in front of the other and take it one day at a time, and soon enough, you will find you don’t think about your new habit; you’ll just do it as part of your day!
Believing in the 21-day myth can make you fail at forming a new habit. It will most likely take you longer than that to have your new habit fully in place. That is normal! You haven’t failed! That timeframe was made up by a man talking about amputation in 1960. Ignore that or anyone else’s goalposts. You are in your own race, and no one is keeping score. If you keep doing your best and making an effort, your new habit will become second nature!
