Behavioral Science
“21 Days to Form a Habit” is Wrong — Here’s The Real Number
Science says: Stay the course.
It’s about three weeks into the new year, which means we’re hitting that New Year’s Resolutions drop-off point. You know the one I’m talking about.
You set fresh goals for your career, health, and relationship, decide you’re going to totally reinvent yourself, and shoot the moon. And you do this every January, even though you often bite off way more than you can chew.
After all, it only takes 21 days to create a new habit… right?
Nope. Misinformation. Red flag. Fake news. Poppycock. In fact, the phrase “It takes 21 days to form a habit” has been a misquote… for over 60 years.
As ambitious millennials and young people, we don’t always realize that. We can’t help but whip ourselves up into a frenzy about our destiny… every single month. We expect to change our lives and overwrite years of conditioning in just 21 days.
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It’s burning us out — hard.
But I hesitate to declare goal setting the villain here. Goals move you in the…
