How Hard is it to Develop a New Habit?

If you are reading this article, odds are that you want to learn how to develop a new habit. In fact, we all do, and the process of forming new habits is an important one for all of us. According to psychology, it only takes about 66 days for a new behavior to become habitual. So if you promised yourself that this upcoming year you would work out at least three times a week or cook your own healthy meal two nights each week, you could reasonably expect it to become a regular part of your life within the first week of April.

Unfortunately, many people live in such a hurry-up world that they forget that habits take time. One of the biggest reasons for this is that many people simply don't give themselves enough time to form a routine. They often find themselves rushing from one task to another without spending enough time on one thing. If you are one of these individuals, don't worry, because there are things you can do to speed up the process of developing a good habit.

One of the easiest ways to help someone get started with their goal to develop a new habit is to pair the reward with the craving. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, instead of simply chomping on a carrot, pair your "craving" with the actual taste of the carrot. By pairing your "craving" with something good, such as a workout or a reward from your favorite activity, you are creating cravings between the two and therefore slowing down the process of habit formation.

If you need help developing a new one, another great strategy that works for many is simply keeping a journal of everything that you do during the day. Keeping a journal helps you identify when you begin to form certain behaviors, such as overeating or poor hygiene. This is useful for many reasons but especially helps you track your progress so that you can monitor how long it takes for you to actually develop a new habit within 21 days. If you need to, you can also use this information to tailor your daily exercise routines in order to achieve the same results.

In fact, keeping a food journal can even be helpful in tracking the amount of times that you snack throughout the day. In this way, instead of simply chomping on potato chips every time you pass the store, you will know that potato chips will satiate your cravings between meals and which will not. Using cues such as a brown paper bag or a piece of paper strapped to your arm, you will be able to tell at an instant whether you should snack or not. While this might seem like an extremely small and insignificant detail, this can make all the difference in the world when you are trying to develop new eating habits. Also, by keeping track of how often you snack during each meal, you will learn which types of foods provide you with a strong feeling of satisfaction and which provide you with a strong craving for something else.

The most important part about developing new habits is realizing that you will have to put in some work in order to succeed. Even if you plan on doing nothing but walking around the block for 21 days, you must realize that this is going to take some time. In fact, it might require months before you see results. However, in the end, when you do achieve these new habits and you are satisfied with them, you will be glad that you took the time to work for them. Therefore, even if it seems like a task, it is actually much easier than you might think.