17/68

I heard a really interesting statistic the other day:

It takes 17 days to create a habit & 68 days to create a lifestyle.

So you could take any goal that you wanted to accomplish & be consistent for 17 days to turn it into a habit. Do this 4x over & you’ve got a new lifestyle.

It makes a lot of sense to me. It’s usually around 2 weeks when I lose interest or motivation & give up (#honest). But if I hold on for a few more days, I’ve got a new habit. So why is it so hard for me to stay consistent? What’s wrong with me?

Actually, nothing.

I did some research on this & here’s what I found out: anything new you try to create, your brain’s like, “Hold up. What the fuck is this?” It’s part of our natural instinct to be wary of change. And that’s because our brain likes to maintain the status quo. It’s safe, it’s comfortable, it works. So to change it, your brain is gonna send some warning signals & be cautious. After 17 days or so, your brain finally gets the message that this is something we’re doing & he calms down (yes, I personified it 😉 ). After 68 days, your new habit becomes ingrained into your brain says, “This is how we do things now & I’m cool with it.”

Any resistance, in the beginning, is absolutely normal. In fact, it means your brain is working wonderfully! You just need to power through the first few weeks. Then your brain will calm the fuck down & you won’t deal with as much internal bullshit. The trick is to find your strength to keep going until day 17 or so. You’re not gonna wanna do it. You’ll make excuses. You’ll get sick or injured or both. Your brain will be grasping at straws for any kind of escape. Fuck that. You deserve more. Push through & move forward into greatness.

You got this.