“Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us. We become what we repeatedly do” - Sean Covey

How many times have you started out all fired up to reach some goal that involved a change in lifestyle, or a particular habit you have? How many times/days did you manage to do the new habit or behavior for before “falling off the wagon” and giving up?  Hands up if you said TONS OF TIMES!  I know that has happened to me many times until I finally learned the principles behind how new habits actually for and how long it takes. 

Much solid research has shown that on average it takes about 66 days to form and solidify a new habit. This means that for most habits, you can lock them in  somewhere between 18 and 254 days, with the average amount of time being 66 days. There is no “one size fits all” answer because it depends on a few things including what type of habit you  are trying to form, your level of commitment and deep desire to change, whether you are just trying to form a new habit or you are trying to break an old one at the same time, the level to which you normally find being consistent with any routine in general, and how quickly you see/feel results. 

So why do we see so many “21 day challenges”?  Or “40-day challenges”?   You may have seen lots of “21-day health or fitness challenges” and have high expectations of them. This isn’t (or shouldn’t be) because you are promised dramatic results in 21 days. 21 days is around the MINIMUM amount of time required to change a habit or form a new one.   But if you want a dose of reality, the truth is that it will probably take you anywhere from two months to eight months to build a new behavior into your life — not 21 days.

So why do coaches, including myself, have these challenges for less than 66 days? Or less than 254 days even?  Two main reasons: 1. is to give you an introduction to the things you need to do to form healthy habits for the long-term, with the idea that you will learn, start to feel the benefits and get inspired to KEEP GOING!  and 2. the exact time for new habits to become automatic are different for different people, and also depend on the type of habit each person is trying to change or develop. The idea is to give you the tools and enough time to you can actually feel the benefits. But we know that you will have to KEEP GOING. We all have to start somewhere and accomplishing a shorter time framed challenge is highly motivating for us to KEEP GOING! 

While you most definitely CAN start to form exercise and healthy eating habits in that time and start to see results, sometimes people quit when they don’t see the results they were hoping for (or promised).  But what we really should be looking at instead is have you started to form new, healthy habits in those days? Is it becoming easier to get yourself to do the healthy activities every day? Are you starting to see and feel the benefits to doing these activities consistently (you will be if you’re doing the prescribed things). 

Whether it’s quitting smoking, getting up at a certain time, starting a new routine such as exercise,  meditation, eating well, giving up something or adding something to your life, or even starting a new hobby that you want to practice daily - all these things usually take a lot of effort and sometimes a struggle with your mindset to keep them going in the beginning. This isn’t because you’re  a “weak” person or  a “have no discipline” kind of person. It is human nature. 

Much research has been done in habit formation and the time it takes for more effortlessly cement new habits. The consensus is…….66 days on average!  Yes, this means some habits CAN be formed in a shorter period of time (usually “easier” ones…..like getting up an hour earlier each day)  and it also means some harder or more complex habits (like breaking an unhealthy habit while exchanging it for a healthier one) can take longer. 

Why do we care about this research? Knowing it can take 66 days to make new habits automatic in our daily lives, can be used as a tool to keep us going in our efforts when things feel hard or we get a case of the “I don’t wanna’s” or the “This is too hard’s”.  

Your goal in doing these challenges should be to see what it looks and feels like to change your daily habits to lock in healthier ones.  This is because we know that achieving optimal health and fitness is an ongoing, lifelong process that is based on consistently (daily) doing a bunch of small, core habits. A “healthy lifestyle” (and don’t we all want that?) doesn’t mean much on its own without understanding what that actually means. A healthy lifestyle is ultimately just a whole bunch of individual healthy habits, done consistently, daily, forever. Those healthy habits can and will transform our lives and allow us to take the actions that we know work to get results. The hard thing - at least for many - is actually moving from knowing we should take those actions, to in fact DOING them. 

So how do we do that - HABITS! We make the connection between how those habits will help us get to our goal. Then we CHOOSE and DECIDE we are going to take those actions, change our habits. We make a promise to ourselves. Then we do ongoing work on our mindset so we can actually keep those promises especially  in the beginning when  forming new habits can sometimes be hard. By reinforcing and focusing our brains on taking the actions every day, eventually  - around the 66 day mark - they will normally become much easier to do and just  be a part of our every day routines. It works! 

IT WORKS! 

Download my free Ten Steps to Set Yourself Up for Optimal Health, Fitness and Life guide here to help you focus on goals and daily actions that become your healthy habits!

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