21 Days to Make or Break a Habit?

𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰.

𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵. - Aristotle.

Can we really make or break habits in 21 days?

According to Stephen R. Covey's book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' , that’s what it takes… so let’s put this to the test.

The habits I want to develop: running, handstands, and yoga.

My results:

Running:

Outside of sport, before this challenge, the furthest I ran was 5km just for the sake of running. I would much rather do sprints than go for a long run. After an initial struggle (a lot of heaving after 5km), I would say that I now enjoy running. At the end of the 21 days, I decided I would train for a half-marathon. My longest run so far has been 17.7km (11 miles for my US friends). I will run a half-marathon in 3 weeks. 

21 days has turned into something I will continue to incorporate into my weekly training.

Handstands: 

This one was definitely the most daunting challenge. I’ve always wanted to do a handstand (it just looks cool), but to say I started from the bottom would be an understatement. I took a gymnastics module in college and my classmates can attest to me being the most challenged individual in the class. One day 1, I literally could not kick my feet in the air. I definitely had a mental block and fear when it came to kicking my feet up. By day 8, I was able to kick up and hold a handstand against a wall. By day 21, I could balance momentarily without a wall. I continued this after 21 days, and my longest hold to date is about 5 seconds (to be honest, I fell over because of the shock). 

Disclaimer: I did fall off the bandwagon on this one after about 2 months so I’ve decided to start another 21 day challenge for it. 

Yoga:

I’m only on day 6 so results are pending...

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟏 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬;

•  Research shows that some habits can be formed in 21 days but that really depends on the person.

•  The truth is that a behaviour could take anywhere from 18 days to 8 months to become a habit (Lally, Van Jaarsveld, Potts, & Wardle, 2010).

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬;

•  You have to start somewhere.

•  Doing an activity for 21 days or 3 weeks could see huge improvements and you will be well on your way to making that behaviour a habit.

•  21 days is more realistic than saying "I'm going to start running now and I'm going to run a marathon in a year". A year will feel like a lifetime away and you mightn't enjoy running at all.

•  Remember, anyone can do anything for 21 days. You are setting yourself up for success. If you hate it, now you know. If you hate it, you stuck to something for 21 days anyways. If you love it, great, keep it up.

Is there something you’ve been wanting to start for a while but just don’t know if you can? Or you just can’t get started? 

Try doing a 21 day challenge: do it for 21 days. Commit to it. And see how it goes! 

My top tips:

•  Do it for one day. Then do it for one more. Do this for 21 days. 

•  Start small: I didn’t start running and doing handstands on the same day. I began with handstands and then incorporated running and now I’ve started yoga. 

•  It’s ok to miss a day. Research shows that you won’t develop a habit in one day and you won’t lose all your progress in one day. Just start again tomorrow. 

My current challenge: 

•  Yoga for 21 days. 

•  Handstands for 21 days (I fell off the bandwagon a couple of weeks ago so I’m starting this one again). 

"𝘏𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯."

- 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘯.

References:

•  Covey, S. (2005). The 7 habits of highly effective people. London: Simon & Schuster. 

•  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, 998-1009.