Day 2: Why 21 days to a new habit?
In the bar after the science blogging conference last Saturday I was chatting to Dave Munger of Cognitive Daily.
Dave observed that New Year resolutions were less likely to be kept than resolutions made at other times of the year, when the resolution was more likely to be self-driven. Apart from writing a public statement of resolution, I think a resolve to commit to 21 days is also sound practice to acquire a new habit (or shake off an old bad habit).
Dr Maxwell Maltz wrote the bestseller Psycho-Cybernetics. Originally a plastic surgeon, Maltz noticed that it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in the amputated limb. From further observations he found it took 21 days to create a new habit. Since then the ‘21 Day Habit Theory’ has become an accepted part of self-help programs.
Brain circuits take engrams (memory traces), and produce
neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21
days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept ‘new’ data for
a change of habit unless it is repeated each day for 21 days (without missing a day). More from the Aristotle blog.
