21 Days

I have seen in a number of places and heard it repeatedly over the last few years that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Simply meaning if you do the same task 21 days straight that it will automatically become a habit.

Well. I beg to differ. Over the years I have tried many 21 day and 30 day challenges and I can honestly say not one of them has become a habit. I have become more aware of them and inclined to do them, and I find it immensely easier to do the tasks than I did when I started…but they have neither become involuntary responses or custom behaviours of mine.

Here is my take on it. Yes… repetitive and consistent behaviours are critical to the habit creation process, but there are other factors that can contribute, such as socialization  drive, determination and discipline. I am quite sure if I dig even deeper that I could come up with a few more factors, but this is all I have got for now.

I say socialization because when I think of the things that are habits for me now such as bathing and brushing my teeth twice daily… these are things that my culture and by extension my family have instilled in me for years. The socialization process would fit in to school and work environments as well through the use of positive or negative reinforcement.

As for drive, determination and discipline- I would tie them in to the habits that we want to form for ourselves. Like daily exercise, meditation, daily email checks etc. These are all goal oriented tasks, hence the need for the 3d concept I stated earlier (you know… drive, determination and discipline).

Please note that none of this is to be confused with addiction (playing games on facebook) and distractions (following every link you see when you are supposed to be focused on ‘a’.)

What is your take on this?