How Long Does It Take to Build a Habit?
- Daniela Radoman
- Aug 4
- 5 min read
We are in that mid-summer rush, where cottage trips, beach days, bbq get togethers, and hiking trips take up our time. It’s a time where a lot of people get busy and last minute excursions take place.
It’s a time where, more often than not, people let their health and fitness goals slip a little.
Or better worded, it’s maybe not our goals, but our habits towards those goals that tend to drift a bit with all the summer busyness surrounding us.
Instead of hitting the gym to lift weights in the morning, you’re getting ready for a two hour drive to a beach house for the long weekend.
Instead of going for a run in the 35º heat, you decide to chill in the pool instead to stay cool.
Instead of chugging your protein shake, you switch that for a nice cold glass of sangria, or maybe your choice of beer.
You get the picture.
Our habits are powerful lifestyle tools, letting us complete tasks without expending much willpower.
Basically, they’re cheat codes to get stuff done.
So, the question is, how long does it take to build a habit?
A new paper took a look at that question and compiled a list of studies that looked at how long it took to reach automaticity in healthy lifestyle behaviours such as increasing physical activity levels, eating healthier, and flossing one's teeth.1
THE ANSWER?
It takes around 2 months to build a habit, while more complex lifestyle changes will take between 2-5 months for that habit to become solidified.
Most people have probably heard that it takes 21 days to build a habit, but that usually only applies to simpler tasks, not bigger habits that will alter how you go about most of your day.
HOW TO ACTUALLY BUILD A HABIT
While it’s great to know that it’ll take you about 2 months to build a habit, how do you actually go about building it in the first place?
Well, the first thing to do is to actually start doing the habit you want to build. That can be easier said than done sometimes, though.
And ok, you do that thing a few times, but then you start to find it hard to keep up. Maybe you do it once, then kind of forget about it, then a week or two later, you remember “oh, it’s been a while since I’ve hit the gym.” And the cycle repeats week after week…
If you’re finding a habit hard to keep up, or maybe you just keep forgetting to do that new thing you want to do, here are a few tips to keep in mind and use to fast track your habit building and to increase your chance of success.
Make a Plan
This one almost seems brain-dead obvious, but scientists actually call this “implementation intention.”
Try to be as specific as you can with your plan. Think of what you want to do, describe how you’re going to do it, and when you’re going to do it.
Don’t just plan, “I’m going to go to the gym more.”
Instead, plan it like this: “I’m going to go to the gym Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings before work and do full body workouts. I’ll eat a banana and drink my coffee before going, I’ll have my gym bag ready and packed the night before, I’ll workout for 45 minutes, then come home.”
You want to be able to visualize your plan and each step you take along that process.
It’s pretty similar to writing out a goal, which you can check out the steps to do that here in one of our previous blog posts.
Reward Yourself
There’s a reason why doctor’s offices give out lollipops to kids after an appointment.
Who doesn’t like a treat after a job well done?
Habits are cue-reward associations in the brain, which leads to automated behaviour in order to obtain a reward.
So, after you do the thing you want to make into a habit, reward yourself right after.
This could look like a post-workout meal after a workout, or if you go to a fancy gym, treat yourself to one of their lavish banana-honey-mango-acai-protein shakes.
It could also look like hitting up the sauna and relaxing for a bit after a workout session.
So just like you’d give your dog a treat after it follows instructions to “sit” and “roll over,” remember to treat yourself from time to time too.
Figure Out Your “Why?”
Ask yourself why when you find yourself on a quest to form a new habit.
Studies show that knowing your “why” improves motivation and adherence.
When it comes to fitness or health goals or habits, a lot of them initially stem from extrinsic motivation, from impressing other people to getting praises.
Extrinsic factors aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but oftentimes they don’t hold up in the long run and aren’t enough to sustain a new habit.
Intrinsic factors on the other hand come from within - the enjoyment, the satisfaction of getting that thing done, a sense of accomplishment, even a belief system around that activity.
Figuring out your “why” makes you dig deeper and takes a look into your intrinsic motivations.
It’s these deeper, more embedded reasons that help you scratch deeper than just the surface when it comes to forming a new habit.
Pair the New Habit With an Existing One
If you’ve already built up a habit - something you do everyday without even second guessing it - then try pairing the new habit you want to form with that thing you already do.
For example, if you brush your teeth every night (I hope you do), and want to add flossing, then just try to do it right after you finish brushing.
If you already go to the grocery store that’s in the same plaza as your gym, try to hop in the gym for at least half an hour before or after you grab your weekly stash of bananas.
If your goal is to get more fibre into your diet, try just adding chia seeds or some other easy-to-add fibre-rich food to the foods you already eat. I find adding it to my yogurt and berries takes all of an extra 30s to prepare.
IN CONCLUSION
Using these 4 tips may help you have an edge when you’re trying to add a new habit to your routine.
Just remember, it does take time - around 2 months - to really make it stick.
You just have to start, be consistent over time, and be patient.
Before you know it, you won’t even have to think twice about doing whatever it was you had set before yourself a few months back.
If you liked this blog post, check out our post on “5 Steps to Build Confidence When Starting Your Health & Fitness Journey.”
Final Remarks
Our goal at Delta Kinesiology is to help women reach their health and fitness goals. We specialise in conditions and injuries that women are more likely to experience, and we tailor the sessions using evidence-based principles and methods to help you reach your goals. Whether that be going about your day pain-free, building muscle, improving stamina, or feeling better about yourself, we are here to help.
Check out some of the ways we can help below!
REFERENCES
Singh, B., Murphy, A., Maher, C., & Smith, A. E. (2024). Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 12(23), 2488. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12232488