Russell needs to get the advised eight hours of sleep daily. Mary has been practicing hand-to-mouth habits. Many other people want to break habits like these. The very first question they ask is how long does it take to break a habit.
It seems difficult to break a habit that you have been addicted to, but once you know that it is bad, then it is necessary and easy to change. People ask about days to break a habit. The answer is that there is no fixed limit or estimate. However, you can break a habit between 18 and 254 days.
Do you want to know how many days are required to break a habit? It all depends on the strategy you use and the dedication you have for a better life. Read more about breaking habits and becoming a better version of yourself.
Table of Contents
The Myth of the 21-Day Rule
It is a popular notion that it takes 21 days to break a habit. This claim is neither accurate nor applicable to everyone. As all of us have different abilities and reasons to break a habit, the days to break a habit also vary.
You can break a habit in 21 days if you follow appropriate methods. However, it is optional to do so in 21 days. It can take up to 21 days to break your bad patterns, depending on what technique you use and how dedicated you are.
Most Common Habits People Want to Break
I have seen people who want to break the following habits.
- Grunting habit: Many people often want to get rid of this habit during exercise.
- Lying is a curse. Many teenagers struggle to break this habit.
- Hand-to-mouth habit is also one of the avoiding habits.
- Many of us are trying to break hair twirling habit.
Research suggests that the 21-day rule or time frame needs to be revised to break a habit. It is related to forming a habit, which says that an individual can form a habit in 21 days. However, this claim also varies from one individual to another.
The research finds that a person can break a habit between 18 and 254 days, similar to forming a habit.
Days to Break a Habit
The question remains to be answered: how long does it take to break a habit? The answer lies in the brain and heart of the person asking this question. It is a wrong perception that you need to spend 21 days while breaking a habit.
Different people spend varying numbers of days to break a habit.
For example, James had been smoking for some time. He wanted to break this bad habit. He asked and read many papers about days to break a habit. He was scared that he could not stop smoking because it took a longer period.
It was after he built motivation and started to break the habit. After 38 days, he approached me with good news. James is now completely free of smoking. He broke his habit within just 38 days.
So it means it all depends on you and your motivation and dedication to how many days you want to break a habit.
Multiple factors play a role in the process, denying the myth of 21 days.
However, there are several factors affecting the breaking of a habit. Some of them are given in the following section.
How Long Does It Take to Break a Habit?
The time it takes to break a habit depends on different factors. These factors are the most important of many that help you break a habit.
According to research, habit formation requires 66 days, which is realistic, while breaking a habit requires varying lengths of days and factors.
Factors Affecting the Breaking of a Habit
1. Intrinsic Motivation
Personal development is solely dependent on your inner motivation. Your motivation level determines whether you can break a specific habit or not. People have high motivation in the start, but with time, they lose interest because they are not internally motivated.
Keep your motivation and spirits high till the end.
2. Difficulty of Habit You are Breaking
Habit formation and habit breaking are difficult tasks to perform. If you want to know how long it takes to break a habit, then identify the complexity level of that habit. Make a time frame and levels of achievement, and reward yourself.
Don’t worry about the difficulty. Once you start practicing with a strong will, you will be able to break a habit easily.
3. The Time You are Having This Habit
For how long have you been practicing this habit? It is the biggest challenge to break a habit you have been practicing for a long time. For example, if a person has had a mouth habit for 5-6 years, then how can he break it at once? So breaking this habit again is quite difficult as the person is repeating it for a longer period.
On the other hand, if a young student has not been waking up early in the morning since last month, the reason is his busy schedule at night, and he wants to break this habit. So he can easily break it because he has had this habit for just three days, which is a short one.
4. Reward System
A reward is a source of inner and personal motivation. It acts as reinforcement in the journey of your personal development. Set a reward system for yourself if you want to break a habit. The rewards will help you achieve your goals easily.
5. Outcomes
Whenever you act, think of its results. Keep the list of outcomes you want to achieve at the end. Looking at the list will keep you motivated. Outcomes force you to think “why” you are doing such an activity.
It is these outcomes that tell you the value of time that you are spending in the process. When you know the worth of your time, you will definitely start working on what you want to do.
Case Study and Example
The following paragraph presents a phenomenal case study of a person who became successful in breaking his habits. In the beginning, the person could not start working on habits because he did not know how long it took to break a habit. But he changed his mind and asked an expert who changed his life.
John, who was an eighth-grade student, had a habit of procrastination. He was used to do tasks at the last hour. The teacher always scolded him for being late. He has no other option but to procrastinate.
One day, John asked Tom how to break the habit of procrastination. Tom was an expert on habit and personal development. He guided him and advised him to start reading about habits and the advantages of a good lifestyle. After reading, John was able to know all the things about habits in detail.
Now, he needed a practical solution as he had developed a basic understanding. Again, he asked Tom how he could apply the knowledge he obtained while reading. Tom advised him of some basic facts.
The very first and most important of all was the outcomes. Tom told him that John should focus on the outcomes and results. Why is he doing this or that thing, and why does he want to break a habit? Secondly, he suggested setting rewards so that he is motivated for the next activities.
By following these two techniques with dedication, John became successful in breaking the habit of procrastination. Now, he is the best student, performs well, and is on time.
Conclusion
Breaking a habit takes time, but how many days does it take to break a habit? It cannot be answered in a fixed figure like 21 days or 30 days, and so on. It depends on the habit and the individual who wants to break the habit.
It is very important to remain patient and maintain self-compassion while breaking a habit. This is because habit-breaking is a time-consuming process but one with good results. Take proactive steps towards breaking unwanted habits and change your life.
It is necessary to know how long it takes to break a habit but focus more on the outcomes and results. Save time. Start now and develop your personality.
FAQs
Is habit-breaking necessary?
Yes, habits that are not beneficial and instead cause some danger are necessary to break. Breaking these habits improves your life and health.
Who is the major player in breaking a habit?
All the relevant objects and persons are important, like the environment, friends, and family. But “you” are the major player as a person who wants to break any habit. As an individual, it is your responsibility to set rules and make progress.
