Addiction How Many Days to Form a Habit for the Better

With all the pressure to change our lifestyles these days, we want to know exactly how many days to form a habit. Speed is everything nowadays! When we can figure out the time investment it takes to change our behavior we have an easier time setting goals and meeting them.

There have been studies done on those with uniquely high IQ scores and their likelihood to develop habits. It turns out that the higher your IQ is the less likely you are to develop habits. This isn\’t really due to being super smart, but it is because with all that information floating around in there it is difficult to follow through on an action without thoughtfulness.

Thought is the defining element to determining whether something is habitual. If you perform an action without thought it is said to be a habit. If you perform a thought with intention, it is considered to be a deliberate action. Take a moment to think about this and consider whether what you have really is a habit.

If we want to establish a healthy habit, we need only do it on a conscious level for seven to fourteen days. Depending on the habit that we are trying to instill we may need the whole two weeks or we might only need a fraction of it. If we are trying to break a habit then we need to introduce a new habit in its place.

For instance, quitting smoking is more than breaking a habit, but breaking the habitual routine of smoking is best done when you spend time putting something in its place. Everything from thinking \”I need a cigarette now\” to the social aspect of talking to other smokers. Exercise is always a good idea to breaking this habit.

How many days to form a habit? As long as it takes you to stop thinking about the action. The more you tend to think about what you do on a day to day basis the longer you will take to form a full blown habit. If you tend to respond to your emotions with little thought, you may find you have an established habit within a week.

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