The beginning of the year leads us to reflect on what we have achieved during the year that ends and what we want to modify or acquire during the new year. Indeed, many of the new year's plans have to do with developing healthy habits [1] (sleeping more and better, eating balanced, exercising, etc.) ... Sound familiar?
If we identify with this, we have probably heard that we can transform conduct into a habit if we carry out said behaviours for 21 days. However, how effective and true is this? According to a study carried out by researchers at University College London (United Kingdom), habituation of behaviour takes an average of 66 days (Lally et al., 2010). Therefore, developing new habits takes more time than people think.
The good news? There are various strategies to facilitate these processes. Here are some of these:
1. Don't stay in action.
The first thing that must exist is the intention to act; however, intention is not enough since it only predicts a 30% change in behaviour (Sutton, 1998).
2. Set yourself for success!
Walking the talk is not as easy as it sounds. Therefore, do not allow your ideas and intentions to remain in the air. To prevent this from happening: develop an action plan, set clear, achievable and small goals. Set yourself for success, not failure.
3. Ask for help. Stay motivated!
One of the keys to transforming a behaviour into a habit is to repeat that behaviour every day. This implies keeping our motivation constant.
One way to stay motivated during the development of healthy habits is to ask for support (emotional, instrumental or informational) from our friends and family (Gruenewald & Seeman, 2010; Umberson, Crosnoe, & Reczek, 2010).
4. Use your environment.
The essential characteristic of a habit is its automaticity. Therefore, when you want to convert a behaviour into a habit, such conduct must be developed and repeated within a stable context. This seeks to establish an association between contextual factors - time of day, situation, place, etc. - and behaviour. Over time, contextual factors will automatically trigger the behaviour; then, a habit has been established.
Considering this, design your environment with elements that make it easier for you to practice the behaviour (e.g. reminders, instruments, etc.) and eliminate factors that make it difficult.
In general, achieving positive changes in our health requires maintaining healthy behaviours over time (a couple of days are not enough). However, CONSISTENCY and COMMITMENT are crucial elements that allow us to overcome the first stage (the most difficult). Once we overcome it, we establish habits that will enable us to maintain healthy behaviours without much effort, even when we look for excuses to avoid them.
So remember, the key to success is consistency, commitment, and… not giving up when it gets tough!
There are still 11 months left to make 2019 the best year of all, so go for it!
Sweet dreams!
References
Gardner, B. (2015). A review and analysis of the use of ‘habit’ in understanding, predicting and influencing health-related behaviour. Health Psychology Review, 9, (3), 277-295. doi: 10.1080/17437199.2013.876238
Gardner, B., Sheals, K., Wardle, J., & McGowan, L. (2014). Putting habit into practice, and practice into habit: a process evaluation and exploration of the acceptability of a habit-based dietary behaviour change intervention. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 11, (135), 1-13.
Gruenewald, T.L. & Seeman, T.E. (2010). Social Support and Physical Health: Links and Mechanisms. In A. Steptoe (Ed.), Handbook of Behavioral Medicine: Methods and Applications (pp, 225 -236). New York, USA: Springer Science & Business Media.
Lally, P. & Gardner, B. (2013). Promoting Habit Formation. Psychology Review, 7, (1), S137 – S158. doi: 0.1080/17437199.2011.603640
Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C.H.M., Potts, H.W.W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 998 –
Phillips, L. A., & Gardner, B. (2015). Habitual Exercise Instigation (vs. Execution) Predicts Healthy Adults’ Exercise Frequency. Health Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/hea0000249
Sutton, S. (1998), Predicting and Explaining Intentions and Behavior: How Well Are We Doing?. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28: 1317-1338. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1998.tb01679.x
Umberson, D., Crosnoe, R., & Reczek, C. (2010). Social relationships and health behavior across life course. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 139 – 157. doi: 1146/annurev-soc-070308-120011