3.3 Habit Formation and Design

With most changes, the intention is to create a new habit or change a behavior in such a way that it creates a different—ideally improved—lifestyle. A habit is an action triggered by a contextual cue, like washing hands after using the restroom or brushing teeth before bed (Lally et al., 2010). You may have heard that there is a magic number of days or repetitions required to make a new behavior a habit: 7, 21, 33. The truth is, how long it takes a person to form a new habit varies widely depending on the behavior, the individual, and the circumstances. Regardless, change takes time. In one study, researchers found that it took participants anywhere from 18 days to 254 days to form a new habit (Lally et al., 2010). The average was about 66 days.

Let’s consider habit formation as a three-stage process: initiation, learning, and stabilization.

During initiation, the individual chooses a specific behavior and specific context on which to focus. During learning, the individual repeats the specific behavior in the specific context, either for a predetermined duration or until the behavior plateaus and persists with less effort. This makes change sound very easy and robotic. It might be this simple with certain types of changes, like putting sunscreen near your toothbrush to ensure you use sunscreen every day, but many health behaviors will continue to require planning, anticipating changes or challenges, and time management. Stabilization—the culmination of habit formation—occurs when the behavior persists with minimal effort. Regardless of the type of behavior, making change gradually can help ensure success.

Expert Perspective: Dr. Neumark-Sztainer says, “When it Comes to Change, Take it Slow.”

Video Transcript

Habit formation research posits that simply forming a habit can be helpful in sustaining behaviors even when motivation wanes (Rothman  et al., 2009). In other words, creating this strong association or habit can help a person persevere when they grow less interested in a routine, seasons change, or other challenges arise. That being said, it is also important to have a why behind every goal; the motivation matters.