How long it takes to change your life?
If you ever thought yourself for going to sleep, tomorrow is the day I will change, tomorrow is the day I will get up early in the morning, have a healthy breakfast, go for a morning jog, breathe fresh air, tomorrow is the day Iam going to change to who I really want to be,the best version of myself.
Well change does not come easy, you have to incorporate certain habits in your life that will eventually lead to you becoming the best version of yourself, you will also have to eliminate certain habits that are hindering your path.
Well how long will it take you to form a new habit or get rid off an old one? most people will tell you it takes exactly 21 days for a person to form a habit or to get rid off an old one.
Take an example a girl was in a high school and her teachers told her it takes exactly 21 days for her to form a new habit and she thought this is her chance to become a bed maker, she thought for the next 21 days instead of getting up everyday and yelling, "Mom please do not forget to make my bed today, she thought to do it by herself. Day by day, early in the morning 6AM even on days she is running late she got up every morning and she made her bed and she hate it every second of it and by day 22, she opens her eyes and the first thing she did was saying, "Mom please do not forget to make my bed today but she couldn't say this and ofcourse that was expected and she thought okay may be she is just going to be a little bit versit life than bed makers. Whatever! she do not exaggerate if she says this 21 day theory is the most famous myth in the world of self development.
The entire theory to understand where the number 21 came from? And the reason first spread in self developmental books and courses.
Dr Maxwell Maltz was a plastic surgeon in the 1950's,when he began noticing a strange better in amongst patients for example in a nose job he saw that the patient took exactly 21 days to get use to start seeing his new nose, he also noticed that if a patient had an arm and leg amputated the patient would acknowledge the feeling of their new limb for exactly 21 days before starting to get used to their new condition.
Dr. Maltz published his theory in a book that went very famous in that era and sold over 30 million copies and here the conflict started brewing in people that means how a difficult situation was arising from that theory and people were fighting to prove the theory right or wrong, and it makes sense why people were starting to believe his theory. Why???
1. The number 21 is considered as a short period of time and that's also considered as source of temptation which means something you can do.
2. The number 22 is also long enough to believable, a difficult challenge but not impossible.
Who wouldn't love to change their whole life within just 21 days? Wouldn't you love to start waking up early in the morning everyday? Wouldn't you love to start cooking healthy recipes? Wouldn't you love to start drinking weird smoothies and all within less than one month? We go for it and a heart beats 😋.
So is it true? Can we really change our lives within 21 days? I Know that sounds really exciting but there are actually few factors that have to be consider to be able to estimate the time and it will take you to form a new habit and to get rid of an old toxic one:
1. Complexity of your goal: If you decide to start eating fruit daily which is considered as simple habit, you probably take less time than if you want to acquire accomplice a complex ethletic skill like a tennis serve.
2. Behaviour consistency affects speed of acquisition:
If I am repeating a certain behaviour for 3 minutes a day is different from my friend repeating a certain behaviour for 30 minutes a day. So we are going to clear things up that how long will it take us to form a new habit and to get rid off an old one and is there any reliable study we can depend on? And the answer is yes, there is a famous study by the psychologist Phillipa Lally titled how are habits formed? The study followed 96 people over a period of 12 weeks. Each person choosen new 12 week habit to work on such as drinking 3 cups of water before lunch or running for 15 minutes after dinner, after 12 weeks the data was analyzed to determine the time needed to move from the old habit to start subconsciously carrying out the new one and after 12 weeks they found that it took approximately 2 to 8 months in order for the task to become a habit and 66 days to be exact. The difference of time it took to form a habit is largely due to the task itself, the person and their circumstances and some are able to form a habit within 18 days and others 254 days, so according to psychologist Lally, if you want to know the time required to form a new habit or get rid off an old one, the truth is you may need 2 to 8 months and not just 21 days.
So whether it's 2 months, 3 months, a year, 2 years it doesn't actually matter how long it takes as much as it matters that you have to begin with today and once you begin make sure to maintain your new habit, make it part of your schedule, set your reminders, create a supportive environment and most importantly you don't have to be perfect.
Making a mistake once or twice has no lasting effect on your behaviour. Actually that will give you time not to rush yourself into things, you have to give yourself time and not to rush yourself to becoming the better version.
If you want to become a better person, I have to commit to the system and embrace the process that way I will commit to make tiny improvements rather than rushing myself too hard into things.
Change is not always easy and it's not always simple but within of dedication any habit can reshape, so if you really want it becoming the best version of yourself get up today and start working on it, I promise you will get there.
Give it a read, it will change your life once you begin into this journey to becoming the best version of yourself.
Author Samia Hasan
Inspired by TedEx Talks
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