Mastery: Read This If You're Trying To Build A Habit

Issue No. 29 | July 17th, 2023 | Read Time: 3 Minutes

Happy Monday Everyone!

For those of you that have built, or are currently building a habit, you've heard of the cliché.

"It takes 30 days of consistent practice to make a habit automatic."

That if you're trying to start a habit of running, meditating, or working out, all you need to do is do it every day for 30 days and it will subconsciously become a part of your daily schedule.

But frankly, this has been proven to be false.

So it got me wondering, where exactly did this theory come from?

Story time.

Maxwell Maltz was a plastic surgeon in the 1950s who realized it took his patients about 21 days to begin getting used to seeing their new face.

He decided to share his discovery with the medical community where he officially concluded that it takes 21 days for an old mental image to disappear and a new one to take its place.

This information would eventually leak out, and personal-development authors and speakers started to preach how it would take 21 days to form a new habit. 

And for whatever reason, that number eventually turned into 30 days. 

More than likely it was rounded up so it was easier to remember, but it's hard to pinpoint exactly why. 

But psychologists always had their doubts about the "30-Day Rule," so a study was recently conducted on 96 people over a 12-week period.

Each person was told to choose a habit they'd like to implement into their lives and report back after 12 weeks on whether or not they stuck with it.

After 12 weeks, researchers found that it took an average of

66 days

to form a consistent habit. With some people taking upwards of 254 days and as little as 18 days.

Obviously, the results varied because not everyone chose the same habits, but it did prove the 30-Day Rule was indeed a myth.

So when it comes to building a habit, it's not about how many days it takes, it's about how many times you've repeated the habit.

As James Clear says in his bestselling book

Atomic Habits

,

"If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection."

Remember this next time you're trying to start up a new habit. Focus more on constant repetition than the number of days you're actually performing it.

And who knows? It might take you less than a month to see it become a part of your daily routine. But for others, it can take as long as seven.

But don't let that stop you from building a habit that can change your life.

Habits don't come easy. But that's what makes sticking with it that much greater.

Until next time,

Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I'm Currently Reading -

Right now I'm in the middle of reading

Extreme Ownership

by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. A book on taking accountability and moving beyond your ego to become the best leader you can be.

• If you'd like to see my notes on any of the other books I have previously read, then check out my websiteisaiahctaylor.comto view my entire library of notes and summaries.

Quote Of The Week

• "It is not because things are difficult we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." — Seneca