Y Talk: Habits + Intentions = Lasting Change by Justin Rose

With the start of the New Year, I am often asked how individuals can make lasting change. As many of you would guess, the answer must be somewhere between having the intention to change and the ability to change. However after doing some reading, I have found many reasons why we find it so difficult to make a lasting change in our lives.

To illustrate the complexity of making a lasting change, let’s start with something most of us would assume is relatively easy. If I asked you to eat a single piece of fruit with lunch every day starting tomorrow, how long do you think it would take you to turn this intention/action into a habit? Five days, 10 days, 15 days, 21 days, 2 months? According to the University College of London, it takes the average person approximately 40 days to turn this intention into a habit.

More interestingly, the further away from our current habits the new behavior is, the longer it takes for us turn that intention into a new habit. For instance, the same study showed that asking participants to do 50 sit-ups after their morning coffee had not yet become a habit after 88 days! That is just one exercise which should typically take around 5 minutes! Can you image how long it will take someone to incorporate a new, one-hour workout regimen into their daily habits? No wonder holding onto one’s New Year’s resolutions is so difficult.

There is some good news though. According to the same study by the University College of London, when we have no opposing habit formed, and we have a strong intention of making a change, we have a very high likelihood of turning that action into a habit. Additionally, if we want to make a lasting change we know we must commit to at least 66 days as this is the average time it takes to form a habit. Lastly, according to the research, missing a day or two here and there had a negligible effect on the formation of a new habit.

HOW TO GET STARTED

So how can you use this information to accomplish your goals? First of all, don’t be so hard on yourself! Start with something small with little or no opposing habitual behavior. If you always go home after work and watch TV, make a small change. Go home and instead of watching TV, take a walk around the block first. Once your new habit is formed, start building on it.

Secondly, commit to the new behavior for at least 60 days. You already know that changing your habits is not easy. Having every intention of working out or changing your diet is not the same as actually doing it. Know that this commitment needs to be viable and doable for at least 60 days.

Thirdly, remember you don’t need to be superman or superwomen. If you miss a day or two, that’s OK. Get right back to where you left off and keep going. Just like habits don’t form overnight, the behavior you are trying to change did not form overnight either. Be patient, be persistent, be intentional and lasting change is sure to follow.

-by Justin Rose, Associate Executive Director