THREE WEEKS TO MAKE OR BREAK A HABIT
Can you or can’t you? Will you or won’t you? Is it or isn’t it?
A habit yet, that is …
We were up to the third week of our YOGA/KAYAK session at Balmoral Beach and thought it was the perfect time to mention the three weeks to make or break a habit conditioning process.
It’s a challenge for some participants to wake up early on a Saturday morning, let alone organised their gear and head down for a 7.30am class – even if it is one the beach.
Rain, hail (well, maybe not) or shine it’s on, so it’s tough if you’ve had a late night on Friday, a hard week at work or it's pouring with rain.
But we know you’ll feel completely recharged and 'alive' after the workout.
The 21-day commitment is a major milestone and we know you’re committed to the end of the course if you make it to that point.
How do we know?
Everything we do (and think, for that matter) is governed by impulses firing across nerve synapses, or spaces between certain cells that guide communication in the brain. When any behaviour or pattern is repeated enough, the synaptic pathways associated with that pattern get used to being accessed. They get worn in.
As a result, it becomes easier for impulses to travel along those pathways, and the behaviour seems natural.
The reality is that habits are easier to make than they are to break.
The 21-day rule
No one is entirely sure from where the 21-day rule originates, but it first seems to have appeared in a book called Psycho-Cybernetics. A self-help book first published in the 1970s, the book explains at length that you can create (or break) a habit in just 21 days.
The slight problem with the rule is the evidence supporting the theory is based on experience, not on controlled experiments.
The theory still caught on and since that time has been backed up in other articles. It varies from person to person, but as a general rule 21-days seems to be the length of time it takes to create (and yes, break) a habit, regardless of the type of activity or thought.
Creating habits
Write down the habits you would like to create or the habits you would like to break.
The most common ones for our clients would like to make are:
- Regular exercise
- Eating healthy food
- Reducing processed foods
- Reducing take-away foods
- Cooking more meals at home
- Walking every day
- Cutting out sugar
- Reducing alcohol; and
- Getting more sleep.
What about some other positive self talk habits? Try:
- Making some changes
- Be kind to yourself
- Use only positive words
- Stop being so critical of other people
- Become non-judgemental
- Smile every day
- Compliment one person every day.