60. Forming a Habit Takes a Long Time and Requires Small Steps

60. Forming a Habit Takes a Long Time and Requires Small Steps

1. The average amount of time it took for people to form a habit was 66 days

2. For some people and some behaviors it took 18 days

3. Depending on the person and the behavior, it went all the way up to 254 days for the behavior to become an automatic habit

   • The more complex the behavior, the longer it took to become a habit (i.e exercising)

4. A missed day, here and there, doesn't have a significant effect on how long it takes to build the habit.

   • But too many missed days, or multiple days in a row, have an effect, and slows the creation of the habit.

5. Motivate others to create a new habit by having them commit to something small and then you can build a bigger habit and commitment later.