Science Says It Takes This Long to Form a Habit

Flossing every day, running more, eating more vegetables—whatever our goals, around four in ten of us will make resolutions to improve ourselves in the new year. But how many actually keep them? 

One relatively optimistic study that followed a group making new year’s resolutions for six months found that 46 percent were still on track by the end of June. However, a quick google search turns up numerous references to the fact that 80 percent of new year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February. As far as I can tell, these mentions all trace back to a single place: a US News article that does not cite the statistic or link it to any study. But the article is written by a clinical psychologist. Let’s at least assume that, for those of us looking to make a change, the statistics aren’t in our favor.

So, how can we get our new habits to stick? What happens in our brain when we create a habit and how long does it take before a behavior becomes second nature?

Brain Anatomy of Habit Formation

A group of nuclei embedded in the midbrain, called the basal ganglia, deals with adopting new, goal-driven actions and integrating them into our consistent behaviors. The basal ganglia also deal with memory, pattern recognition, and motor control, and these nuclei are deeply connected to other parts of the brain.

Studies of brain activity suggest that a key point in habit formation occurs when the basal ganglia take over for the prefrontal cortex.

The prefrontal cortex, the frontmost part of the frontal lobe, deals with decision-making. Studies of brain activity suggest that a key point in habit formation occurs when the basal ganglia take over for the prefrontal cortex. 

How long does it take to form a habit?

Again turning to popular internet lore, the most commonly quoted number is that it takes 21 days to form a habit. This belief apparently originates from Psycho-Cybernetics, a book published in the1960s by plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz.

Maltz noticed that his plastic surgery patients took 21...

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