Developing Habits

Most of us have heard at some point that it takes 21 days to create a habit in our lives.  Studies are now showing that instead of 21 days, it's now taking 66 days to create a habit. The reason for this is as we develop new technology, we have access to so many more pieces of information, opinions, and theories, that it is harder to declutter our brains and analyze not only what we chose to do, but our new programming is to not believe something until it is proven. 

So, we tend to take these steps before establishing a habit:

1. We take time researching the topic to see if the information is true
2. We take time to decide if we believe this information
3. If we believe it, we take more time to gather information to see HOW to go about creating the new habit

These steps can take up to several weeks themselves…before we even begin to develop this habit! 

The unfortunate fact about this is it takes longer to create the habit, but we are also more impatient in today's culture. We want immediate results and also put in less effort, and that's working against us. 

If you are trying to create a new habit, you can follow the steps above, but make a plan to get through these as quickly as possible and keep at it, set deadlines, and most importantly, get an accountability partner.

Don't get discouraged if you aren’t making as much progress as you thought.. Maybe you are trying to make or live on a budget, save money, spend less, or invest money.  Whatever it is, know that it is taking longer to develop these habits and focus on taking that next right step.  Break it down to multiple smaller milestones if you need to.  Put enough of these steps together long enough and you'll get there…you can do it!