Anyone who has tried to break an old habit can tell you how hard it is. Even just trying to stop thinking about certain people who should not be mentioned can be almost impossible. These habits seemed to form almost without us noticing, and then can't be gotten rid of. How much easier would life be if we could take the things we know we should be doing and turn them in to habits? However, things never seem to be that easy. So what is stopping us from forming better habits?
According to some sources, it is just a matter of time. But how long? Some say 8 weeks, others only three, and still others any other number you would like to pull out from a hat. With so many different answers, there must be something more effecting the time it takes to form a habit. So what are some of these things?
The first important factor in how long it takes to form a habit is how difficult the habit it. Compare remembering to brush your teeth every day compared to going for a two-hour jog everyday. This just means that if you are trying to form a new habit that is a bit more difficult, you are much better off working in baby steps. Want to sit down and write your novel for 3 hours every day? Well, start by forming the habit of sitting down after dinner and writing for half an hour. Once you are pretty good with that, it's not such a big step to go from half an hour to an hour, then to two hours. You get the idea.
The second major influence in creating a habit is how often you actually perform the action. Just as it is harder to break a habit that you do all the time, it's easier to form a habit if you do it more often. This is particularly important at the beginning, and will decrease the time it takes to form the habit. So prepare to be as faithful as you can to set yourself up to succeed. Particularly at the beginning, try to do the habit everyday, even if you later plan to do it less often.
The third factor that affects how long a habit takes to form and how effectively it sticks involves how much it clashes with older habits. The larger the clash, the less likely it will stick. This just means you need to do a little more planning when introducing a new habit to try and minimize any possible clashes. For example, plan to start going to gym at 6pm, but until now you have always sat down and watched TV? That's not such a great start. However, if you barter with yourself that you can only watch TV while you are at the gym, this has a stronger chance of succeeding. You need to analyze your daily routine and slip the new habit in somewhere it will cause the least disruption. It's even better if you can strengthen it by connecting it to a preexisting habit. If you always have a coffee at 11am and want to increase your fruit intake, link your coffee with your daily banana and it will be easier.
There is no need to be stressed about forming a new habit. With a bit of planning, you can maximize the effectiveness of your efforts and in no time will be finding it harder and harder to break.
According to some sources, it is just a matter of time. But how long? Some say 8 weeks, others only three, and still others any other number you would like to pull out from a hat. With so many different answers, there must be something more effecting the time it takes to form a habit. So what are some of these things?
The first important factor in how long it takes to form a habit is how difficult the habit it. Compare remembering to brush your teeth every day compared to going for a two-hour jog everyday. This just means that if you are trying to form a new habit that is a bit more difficult, you are much better off working in baby steps. Want to sit down and write your novel for 3 hours every day? Well, start by forming the habit of sitting down after dinner and writing for half an hour. Once you are pretty good with that, it's not such a big step to go from half an hour to an hour, then to two hours. You get the idea.
The second major influence in creating a habit is how often you actually perform the action. Just as it is harder to break a habit that you do all the time, it's easier to form a habit if you do it more often. This is particularly important at the beginning, and will decrease the time it takes to form the habit. So prepare to be as faithful as you can to set yourself up to succeed. Particularly at the beginning, try to do the habit everyday, even if you later plan to do it less often.
The third factor that affects how long a habit takes to form and how effectively it sticks involves how much it clashes with older habits. The larger the clash, the less likely it will stick. This just means you need to do a little more planning when introducing a new habit to try and minimize any possible clashes. For example, plan to start going to gym at 6pm, but until now you have always sat down and watched TV? That's not such a great start. However, if you barter with yourself that you can only watch TV while you are at the gym, this has a stronger chance of succeeding. You need to analyze your daily routine and slip the new habit in somewhere it will cause the least disruption. It's even better if you can strengthen it by connecting it to a preexisting habit. If you always have a coffee at 11am and want to increase your fruit intake, link your coffee with your daily banana and it will be easier.
There is no need to be stressed about forming a new habit. With a bit of planning, you can maximize the effectiveness of your efforts and in no time will be finding it harder and harder to break.
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