Top 3 Factors to Creating a New Habit Successfully

It takes about one month to establish a new habit. Plastic surgeons report that it takes on average 21 days after surgery for patients to get used to an altered feature on their bodies.

The brain has to reroute or create a new neuro network section in order to have a new behavior feel “normal”.  In order to train your brain to receive a new habit as “normal” it needs to fulfill an input threshold in order to accept it as being established.  Every neuro network input unit adds up all the inputs it receives and if the sum is more than a certain threshold value, the unit “fires” and triggers the units it is connected to. Multiple input factors on a consistent basis are required in order to “re-tool” your neuro network in relation to implementing a new behavior.

Here are the top 3 factors to help understand how to get your new habit firmly established;

Age.

The farther past twenty you are the longer you need to give yourself to create a new habit.  Age plays a factor in how long it takes to firmly establish a new, healthier habit.  The reason is that as we age our neuro network becomes structured with old habits, behaviors, thoughts and feelings which become more and more difficult to change as we age. Here is an age scale as a good rule of thumb for how long it will take you to establish a new habit;

Age      Days

20’s      20 days
30’s     30 days
40’s    50 days
50’s    70 days
60’s    90 days
70’s    110 days
80’s    130 days

An exception to the age change speed factor in the equation is when a traumatic event occurs that triggers a rapid ability to accept a new behavior. For example, when someone received news that their health is in eminent danger they are often motivated enough to increase the rate of accepting a new habit in order to change a possible negative outcome.

Profession.

Your profession and daily routine plays a factor in the ability to establish a new habit.  If your profession presents new work that you have to adjust to frequently, then your brain will have more flex-ability. In contrast, if you have a job where you perform the same function over and over again without the need for problem solving or adjusting to new scenarios, then it will be more difficult for you to establish a new habit.

Clear end result vision. 

If you are able to draw a clear picture of yourself in the new habit you are attempting to establish then your chances of success increase and the time needed to achieve it are reduced.  If however, you cannot visualize the end result of the new habit, then it will be difficult for your brain to accept and integrate the new habit required to achieve the end result. Take some time to relax and visualize yourself as if you have already received the benefit derived from the new habit being in effect for an entire year.  In other words, if you were actively and routinely performing your new habit, what would you and your life look like as a result a year from now?  The more clearly you can see this in your mind, the easier it will be to receive and accept the new habit as being a part of your normal daily routine instead of something difficult to implement. The more clearly you can visualize, the higher your success rate.