Jeremy Dean - Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Dont, and How to Make Any Change Stick

Why We Do Things,
Why We Dont, and
How to Make Any Change Stick

JEREMY DEAN

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

Copyright 2013 by Jeremy Dean

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210.

Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-7382-1608-9 (e-book)

Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com

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To Howard and Patricia

For in truth habit is a violent and treacherous schoolmistress. She establishes in us, little by little, stealthily, the foothold of her authority; but having by this mild and humble beginning settled and planted it with the help of time, she soon uncovers to us a furious and tyrannical face against which we no longer have the liberty of even raising our eyes.

MONTAIGNE

PART ONE
ANATOMY OF A HABIT

PART TWO
EVERYDAY HABITS

PART THREE
HABIT CHANGE

T his book started with an apparently simple question that seemed to have a simple answer: How long does it take to form a new habit? Say you want to go to the gym regularly, eat more fruit, learn a new language, make new friends, practice a musical instrument, or achieve anything that requires regular application of effort over time. How long should it take before it becomes a part of your routine rather than something you have to force yourself to do?

I looked for an answer the same way most people do nowadays: I asked Google. This search suggested the answer was clear-cut. Most top results made reference to a magic figure of 21 days. These websites maintained that research (and the scare-quotes are fully justified) had found that if you repeated a behavior every day for 21 days, then you would have established a brand-new habit. There wasnt much discussion of what type of behavior it was or the circumstances you had to repeat it in, just this figure of 21 days. Exercise, smoking, writing a diary, or turning cartwheels; you name it, 21 days is the answer. In addition, many authors recommend that its crucial to maintain a chain of 21 days without breaking it. But where does this number come from? Since Im a psychologist with research training, Im used to seeing references that would support a bold statement like this. There were none.

My search turned to the library. There, I discovered a variety of stories going around about the source of the number. Easily, my favorite concerns a plastic surgeon, Maxwell Maltz, M.D. Dr Maltz published a book in 1960 called Psycho-Cybernetics in which he noted that amputees took, on average, 21 days to adjust to the loss of a limb and he argued that people take 21 days to adjust to any major life changes. He also wrote that he saw the same pattern in those whose faces he had operated on. He found that it took about 21 days for their self-esteem either to rise to meet their newly created beauty or stay at its old level.

The figure of 21 days has exercised an enormous power over self-help authors ever since. Bookshops are filled with titles like Millionaire Habits in 21 Days, 21 Days to a Thrifty Lifestyle, 21 Days to Eating Better, and finally, the most optimistic of all: 21-Day Challenge: Change Almost Anything in 21 Days (at least it acknowledges that it might be a challenge!). Occasionally, the 21-day period is deemed a little too optimistic and we are given an extra week to transform ourselves. These more generous titles include The 28-Day Vitality Plan and Diet Rehab: 28 Days to Finally Stop Craving the Foods that Make You Fat.

Whether 21 or 28 days, its clear that what we eat, how we spend money, or indeed, anything else we do, has little in common with losing a leg or having plastic surgery. To take Dr Maltzs observations of his patients and generalize them to almost all human behavior is optimistic at best. Its even more optimistic when you consider the variety amongst habits. Driving to work, avoiding the cracks in the pavement, thinking about sports, walking the dog, eating a salad, booking a flight to China; they could all be habits and yet they involve such different areas of our lives. But, to be fair, Maltz didnt invent the 21-day time frame; there are all sorts of origin stories explaining its whereabouts, most of them standing on science-free ground.

Thanks to recent research, though, we now have some idea of how long common habits really take to form. In a study carried out at University College London, 96 participants were asked to choose an everyday behavior that they wanted to turn into a habit. They all chose something they didnt already do that could be repeated every day; many were health-related: people chose things like eating a piece of fruit with lunch and running for 15 minutes after dinner. Each of the 84 days of the study, they logged into a website and reported whether or not theyd carried out the behavior, as well as how automatic the behavior had felt. As well soon see, acting without thinking, or automaticity, is a central component of a habit.

So, heres the big question: How long did it take to form a habit? The simple answer is that, on average, across the participants who provided enough data, it took 66 days until a habit was formed. And, contrary to whats commonly believed, missing a day or two didnt much affect habit formation. The complicated answer is more interesting, though (otherwise, this would be a short book). As you might imagine, there was considerable variation in how long habits took to form depending on what people tried to do. People who resolved to drink a glass of water after breakfast were up to maximum automaticity after about 20 days, while those trying to eat a piece of fruit with lunch took at least twice as long to turn it into a habit. The exercise habit proved most tricky with 50 sit-ups after morning coffee, still not a habit after 84 days for one participant. Walking for 10 minutes after breakfast, though, was turned into a habit after 50 days for another participant.

On average, habit formation took 66 days. Drinking a glass of water reached maximum automaticity after 20 days; for 50 sit-ups, it took longer than the 84 days of the study.