There is a plethora of self-help books, articles, websites and the like out there. The vast majority genuinely want to assist change and support people into making those changes in the moment and as painlessly as possible. Many perpetuate the myth that it takes 21 or possibly 30 or possibly some other random number of days to embed a new habit or behaviour. The truth about embedding change is somewhat different.
In 1960 Dr Maxwell Maltz published “Psycho-Cybernetics” in which he shared his views on behaviour change. This included his observation that change took a minimum of 21 days to embed. This was not a random number, but a number based on his observations of how long his patients took to adjust to surgical changes to their bodies. This was also his own observations of how long it took him to change behaviour.
The reality, of course, is that we are all different. Some changes can and do happen instantly. Some happen more quickly, whereas others can take time. It’s all about how quickly we can reprogramme our unconscious minds because this is where all learning, change and behaviour take place. We may consciously want the change. If we’ve been doing the unwanted behaviour for a long time, it can take a while to lose the unwanted behaviour and replace it with what we now want. And this can take 21 days. It may take 30 days. We might need more time, and it could happen more quickly.
The important first step is wanting to change and then knowing what that change is. It’s about working out what the new wanted behaviour is. We need to start with the end in mind and then work out what the first steps is. If you can do that for yourself, do it. You also know that you can seek help by booking an initial consultation here. It’s all about becoming the very best version of you, isn’t it?
