I once saw a quote that I loved. I went along the lines of “It’s taken a bad habit to get you to this point and it’s going to take a new habit to fix it”. I believe this runs true with most people that I see in practice. There has been a bad habit that has been present for a long time that has led to their current situation. These “bad habits” can be things like Sitting poorly at a desk, sleeping in poor positions, poor lifting techniques, poor movement patterns etc. The list could go on for ages. They key point I wanted to discuss was that you first need to identify what bad habit may be causing your problems. You can then start to make changes. Creating a habit can take a while. In fact, some research has been done that has given an approximate time frame. Continue reading to see how long it can take to create a new habit.
The majority of people that I see in practice come in because of a problem. We can help them ease the discomfort and feel better, but more importantly I am asking myself, why is the problem here in the first place? Do they have a bad habit that is causing it? If you don’t fix the cause or aggravating factor, the problem will most likely return. Let’s take for example someone with lower back pain. The pain may be aggravated by slouching on the couch/office chair or rounding their back too much when they bend over and pick things up. If these things are not addressed it is highly likely that the problem will be a recurrent one.
If you are suffering from a problem, think about your daily routines or things that you are doing that could aggravate it. Is it how you sleep, how you sit, how you move, or lack of moving? What we need to do is eliminate the bad habit and create a new one. If you do need help with identifying a problem, contact us and book a time to be assessed properly.
How long does it take to create a new habit?
Phillipa Lally, a psychology researcher at University College of London, looked into how long it takes to create a new habit. The findings, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, showed that on average it takes 66 days to create a new habit. This shows that creating a new habit is not an overnight process, it takes time, but the results will be worth it. Phillipa said that “missing one opportunity to perform the behavior did not materially affect the habit formation process”. This means that if you forget to do to do the new habit occasionally, it is not going to muck up the whole process, so stick with it.
In my next post I will discuss some ways you can help create your new habit and make it stick. Making this change will not only make you feel better now, but will make you feel better for years to come. There is one thing for sure though, your body will thank for it.
References:
If you are suffering from a problem, think about your daily routines or things that you are doing that could aggravate it. Is it how you sleep, how you sit, how you move, or lack of moving? What we need to do is eliminate the bad habit and create a new one. If you do need help with identifying a problem, contact us and book a time to be assessed properly.
How long does it take to create a new habit?
Phillipa Lally, a psychology researcher at University College of London, looked into how long it takes to create a new habit. The findings, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, showed that on average it takes 66 days to create a new habit. This shows that creating a new habit is not an overnight process, it takes time, but the results will be worth it. Phillipa said that “missing one opportunity to perform the behavior did not materially affect the habit formation process”. This means that if you forget to do to do the new habit occasionally, it is not going to muck up the whole process, so stick with it.
In my next post I will discuss some ways you can help create your new habit and make it stick. Making this change will not only make you feel better now, but will make you feel better for years to come. There is one thing for sure though, your body will thank for it.
References:
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/forming-new-habits_b_5104807.html
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