What do you want to do differently?
Do you want to:
Doing those things differently means creating new habits. That’s right, habits. The way and the how we do things.
Developing new habits might be about starting something you want to do… or stopping something you don’t want to do. For example, you may want to start exercising regularly, or you may want to stop smoking, drinking too much, or procrastinating.
A new habit as a success tool? Yup, and it probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you. Now the big question: What does it take to build new habits?
Let’s face it, you’ve probably already bought a course, listened to podcasts, or read a book about that “new” habit, and yet nothing is different. You’re still doing things the way you always have. Or maybe you’re intermittently working in the new habit that you want to develop.
The problem is that no book, course, or podcast can accelerate the key ingredients that it really takes to build that new habit: The time lapse and repetition that it takes to cement the habit.
Time lapse? Well, how long does it take to build a new habit? Over the years the conventional wisdom stated 21 to 35 days was needed. Hearing that, you’ve probably thought, “That’s not bad. It’s just a few weeks. I can do that.” Yet, it didn’t work, did it?
Now we know why.
New research published in the European Journal of Psychology from Phillippa Lally of the University College in London found that it takes two to eight months to create a new habit. MONTHS? While the particular length of time for a given person or habit depends on many variables, the sweet spot was an average of 66 days. Yes, 66 days.
Now that really made me step back and think…
That means that building new habits takes a couple of months of commitment. A couple of months of being committed and transparent with consistent activity, focus, and energy toward this new habit.
So, to build a new habit, we need to set ourselves up for success with the understanding of what it really takes to get there. Why? Because then we can set aside the necessary time, support, and resources.
I’ll leave you with this: The real questions you must ask yourself are:
What will I do to build all those ingredients into the plan for creating and building my new habit? And maybe even more importantly, why? Why is it important enough for me to do so?
Now you’ve got clarity and a much higher chance to do THAT thing differently.
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