Asking: How Many Days Does It Take to Form a Habit Is a Wrong Approach
Challenging the conventional wisdom, we delve into the complexities of habit formation. The question isn't about the number of days it takes, but rather the process and factors that contribute to successful habit development. Let's rethink our approach.
The 21-Day Habit Theory
According to productivity experts, if a person commits to doing something for 21 days straight, it will supposedly become automatic behavior that doesn’t require any effort.
- However, this is not true
- For example, if you want to lose weight, you should focus on exercising and carefully considering what you eat.
The Real Value of Practicing A Habit For 21 Days or Longer
Your value system takes a drastic turn when you keep practicing an activity you want to form as a habit
- Embarking on a habit-formation journey gives you the opportunity to figure out what you really value
- Persisting in doing something allows you to see which things are important for you
Closing Thoughts
The essential thing is figuring out what tasks are worth keeping and what aren’t
- When you stick to a certain activity for 21 days or more, you give yourself the opportunity to find if this new thing is valuable enough – for you – to keep doing it.
- Regularly hitting the gym allows you to see how this activity can positively impact your body, mind, and life in general.
The Incentive Behind How Many Days Does It Take to Form a Habit
There’s something powerful about knowing an end exists
- Having a particular end date where things will supposedly become easier means being able to convince yourself that you can push through that number of days
- If our initial conviction was that things will now be easier – automatic even – when we hit a particular date, we’ll be quite disappointed when things remain hard
The 21-day Habit Formation Myth
We mistakenly believe that it takes 21 days to form a new habit.
- In a famous book from the 1960s, Dr. Maxwell Malt famously said: “These, and many other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.”
- 21-days seems reasonable. Easy. Tweetable. Doable. Pretty much everyone can persist in doing something for 21 days.