It's okay to take a day off~🍀

The story of how I failed over and over, believing that "habits can be formed in 21 days"💧

Introduction

"Habits are formed in 21 days"

Believing that,

・I started waking up early.
・I started working out.
・I started reading.
・I started writing on note

And I have, many times before,

quit before reaching the 21st day...

Every time I couldn't keep it up, I thought:

But there is only one thing I want to tell you today.

Where did the "21-day theory" come from?

Knowing the origin of this number will make you feel a little relieved.

In the 1960s, there was an American plastic surgeon
named Maxwell Maltz.

While observing his post-operative patients,
he noticed something.

This was written in his book
"Psycho-Cybernetics."

This book became a huge hit,

and before we knew it,

It spread by changing into a "law" like that.

However, this is not a
scientific experimental result.

It is an observation record by a single doctor.

Moreover, the original story was a very limited one about
“the time it takes to get used to a face”
.

For some reason, it spread throughout the world as a "law" that applies to every habit.

The "true number of days" revealed by science

So, how long does it actually take to form a habit?

In 2010, Dr. Phillippa Lally of University College London conducted a study.

She had 96 subjects

“choose one new habit and record it every day”

, and measured the number of days it took for them to be able to do it naturally.

The results are as follows.

21 days does not appear anywhere.
???

What is even more important is the point that
“the number of days changes depending on the difficulty of the habit”
.

For example,
・“Drink a glass of water before meals” → about 20 days
・“Walk for 15 minutes after lunch” → about 50–60 days
・“Do muscle training every day” → 80 days or more

In other words, it was natural that
the more difficult the habit, the longer it takes. I think that makes sense.

It is obvious when you think about it that the time it takes to form a habit changes depending on the difficulty level, isn't it?

Previously, when I was playing golf, I practiced on my own for a long time, but I decided to start taking lessons because I felt I wouldn't get any better.
It ended up taking nearly two years to redo my form from the basics.

It took a terrifyingly long time to make it a habit.

But thanks to that, I was able to improve my score to a best of 83 at the time.
I want to play golf⛳ again.

The "21-day myth" was causing setbacks

Let's take a moment to remember here.

When you continued for 21 days but it didn't become a habit,
what was happening in your head?

21 days passed
↓
It didn't become a habit
↓
I'm no good after all
↓
Motivation drops
↓
Quit

Many people should be familiar with this pattern.

The problem wasn't willpower,

it was your “expectations” for yourself!

That was it.

So, how can you make it last?

Dr. Lally's research had one moreimportant discovery!

That is

“Even if you skip a day, the impact on habit formation is almost zero.”

I think this is truly a saving grace.

Just because you couldn't do it yesterday doesn't mean it's over.

That's not the case.

“Habits don't collapse in a single day”

By changing the design just a little, it becomes easier to continue.

For example, here is one method.

① Make it a “66-day challenge🔥” from the start

You should just accept the first month as
“a period of getting used to it”
!

② Lower the difficulty to the limit

The number of days to form a habit
is proportional to the difficulty.

So, at first,
“Doing even a little bit is better than doing nothing”
is enough.

・5 push-ups
・1 page of reading
・30 seconds of stretching, etc.

Even just starting with small things like this
is a great step forward.

③ Make “It's okay to take a break🍀” your premise

Perfectionism is
“the greatest enemy of habits”
.

It's okay to take a day off!🍀

If you can get back to it the next day,

that is“a huge success🔥”!!

Conclusion

“Whether you know it or not”changes
the efficiency of your efforts.

The reason you didn't last 21 days
was not because your willpower was weak.

You just believed in wrong information.

If you have the right knowledge,
you won't need to blame yourself.

And,
you will be able to think, “Let's try one more time”
.

Won't you try it with me?

Finally