According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, habit is a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior. Therefore, establishing certain actions (the ones that we considered good) as a habit has several advantages, including greater efficiency in the action (through repetition and constancy), and the benefits from the repetition of actions that we consider good.

Forming Habits Takes a Certain Time

There is the 21-day kabbalistic number, widely propagated by various authors of Neurolinguistics and the like, including Sir John Hargrave, in his book Mind Hacking: How to Change Your Mind for Good in 21 Days. Although much mentioned, its origin is not known for sure. Most likely, it was incorporated through the book Psycho-Cybernetics: A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life by american plastic surgeon and researcher, Maxwell Maltz, who noted the number 21 in his work. See what he says in his book: “Do not allow yourself to become discouraged if noth-ing seems to happen when you set about practicing the various techniques outlined in this book for changingyour self-image. Instead, reserve judgment—and go on practicing—for a minimum period of 21 days. It usually requires a minimum of about 21 days to affect any perceptible change in mental image. Following plastic surgery, it takes about 21 days for the average patient to get used to his new face. When an arm or legis amputated the “phantom limb” persists for about 21days. People must live in a new house for about three weeks before it begins to “seem like home.” These, and may other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.“

A 2009 study by Phillippa Lally and colleagues Cornelia H. van Jaarsveld, Henry W. Potts, and Jane Wardle (University College London) noted the time it took people to automate certain actions. The time taken for participants to achieve reasonable automation ranged from 18 to 254 days, and the average found was 66 days. Whether 21 or 66 days, I think it is plausible to adopt an initial number of 30 days as a goal for the repetition of the habit we want to create. Over time, you can adjust this number yourself if you feel it is necessary.

Forming New Habits

To form habits is simple but not necessarily easy. Building good habits takes time (as we have just seen), as well as a lot of discipline, determination to execute, and willingness. A 2015 research by Theresa M. Desrochers, Ken-ichi Amemori, and Ann M. Graybiel, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), found that neurons in the brain weigh the costs and benefits of conducting habit formation. Like everything else in nature, our brains are looking for an optimal cost/benefit ratio to perform their functions. This leads us to believe that when we consciously want to introduce a new habit, we need to define what are the costs (what should I do?) and what are the benefits (what do I get?), making sure to “introduce” to our brain all the benefits involved. This is a way to intelligently plan for a new habit.

Habit planning includes the characterization of the benefit and the description of the action involved in the execution of the habit. Let’s look at each of the steps below:

• Benefit: Creating a habit requires, as we have said, discipline and determination in its execution, so it is critical to keep in mind the benefit we are seeking. It is necessary to define a purpose, that is, what is the gain we will have by acting habitually in this or that way. We may even characterize short-term gains (those arising from the simple execution of the action) and long-term gains (those arising from the introduction of the action as a habit).
• Action: We should describe the procedure or routine we will be engaging in to provide the benefit we want. It is important that we keep in mind, as succinctly as possible, but as detailed as necessary, the description of the action we need to take, and the behavior we must take.

The Habit Formation Cycle

Several psychologists and researchers, including the renowned author of the bestseller “The Power of Habit,” Charles Duhigg, point out that the habit formation cycle follows a pattern: trigger, action, and reward. “Action” and “reward” are what we used to call “cost” and “benefit,” but now we see the “trigger” appear, which is what will trigger the action.

For example, when I hear my alarm clock (trigger), I’ll get up, put on my workout clothes, eat a banana, and go to the gym (action) because I’ll feel good afterward, and I know it will lead to weight loss, increased muscle mass, increased immunity, increased energy, and countless other benefits (reward).

Bear in mind, the key to a new habit is to make clear the advantage you will get!