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Building Habits : The Truth About The 21-Day Rule
How many times have you seen and heard that magical number 21 popping into some of your favorite self development and coaching literature? Often times, it is said that habit formation or change requires at least twenty-one days to be completed for once and for all.
In reality, this tiny number is biased if not imaginary : No reliable foundations have been found to sustain such tempting assumption mistakenly attributed to Dr Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon who observed that his patients deprived of their arms or legs would continue to sense their amputated member for 21 days before adjusting to their new normal. This contextualized insight published in “Psycho-Cybernetics” by 1960 went viral to the point that it became a widespread myth dangerously advised by some coaches and trainers. As the popular saying goes : “if enough people say something enough times, everyone will start to believe it”.
Let’s take another glance at figures as they are compiled and tested by empirical studies : According to Dr Phillippa Lally, a researcher at University College London, the actual number of days to install a new habit equals 66 days, three times that alluring threshold branded and promised to date. Here you can check the research paper “How are habits formed”.
So.. Shall we take it ?
I would say, absolutely yes! I believe that such a.. belief can be of a great help, guiding us through the uncertain beginnings along our journey of change. Indeed, 21 is a magical number which sounds high and reachable alike, triggering a sort of positive pressure to start over and not to stop, for one, two, three whole weeks made of all surprises and improvisation. How comfortable and confident would you be after you successfully stick to your new winning task for 3 weeks non stop?
