How many days to form a habit?

Everyday affirmation, eating more healthy foods, exercising- whatever our goals, around four in ten of us will make resolutions to bring improvements in our life during the new year. But how many actually keep them?

Successful people do not get where they are by accident. They have made something that they don't- or many things that do- a habit. Whether you want to have a big habit of earning and saving more or drinking more water… Every small to big habit takes effort and dedication.

Read Also: 5 Daily Habits To Naturally Gain Weight in a Month

When it comes to developing a bad habit, two repetitions is enough. Order some muffins with your coffee on Money morning and Tuesday morning, and you will probably find it tough to resist ordering muffins on Wednesday.

Some experts believe that 21 days t develops a new habit- but it cannot be implemented on everyone.

A recent study revealed that a daily activity like eating fruit at lunch or running for 15 minutes took an average of 66 days to become as much of a habit as it would ever become.

Must Read: 10 Best Habits of Successful People

However, there were a lot of variations, among people as well as among habits- some people are more habit-resistant than others and some habits are tougher to pick up their others.

The study also showed that if you miss a day, it does not disturb the process, so don't get discouraged if you are not able to keep a proper track record. But the first days seem to make the biggest difference, so this is worth trying to be diligent at the starting poet of the attempted-habit-acquisition process.

One way to ensure your success more likely is to only form habits you genuinely want to incorporate into your life. And then, set up cues that will push to finish them. There are two major factors that you need to keep in mind to form any habit

The first step is to concentrate on remembering the habit regularly and the second step is staying motivated. With these two steps, it will get easier to repeat the habit over time; you will not have to struggle every day.

How can you make a new habit stick?

It is a fact that there is no definitive study on what makes a habit stick. But there is plenty of advice from psychologists and neuroscientists based on their experiences and their patients.

As per Lally et al. study determined that the first day is the most important in setting a foundation for success, that missing one here and there was okay. Some people were determined to be potentially habit-resistant. It means they found habit formation more elusive despite putting in just as many works as the other participants.

Note: Making a habit is not easy, our brains are hardwired to take shortcuts and do what comes naturally to us. This is the reason why, while you are telling yourself you want to create a new habit, your brain is busy working out how it can revert to your old ways.

Read Also: Changing food habits and us.

At the end of the day, how many days to form a habit does not really matter that much. Whether it takes 50 days or 500 days, you have to put in the work either way.

The only to get to Day 500 or 50 is to start with Day 1. So don't care about the number and focus on doing the work.

Over to You

What do you think about forming a habit? What has been your experience in developing habits? How many days it took and what tricks have you found helpful? Share in the comment section.